Tired and pissed off Nigeria’s power situation declines like a wilting flower. We are down to a daily output of between 2600-2900MW per day (the figures are disputed). To put these stats into perspective, the UK, with between a half and a third the population, produces around 50 times more electricity each day. Even pampered Maitama where I live is currently experiencing heavy load- shedding. This week, there has been a blackout from 7pm-3am every night. It is impossible for foreigners unused to 30+ degrees of night-time heat to sleep (hence why I am up at 4:30 am having not slept a wink). Since the end of military rule, the power capacity for the country has declined year on year. The Ministry of Power and Steel (popular parlance replaces the last two words with ‘to Steal’) promises a brighter situation by 2010, with Chinese and Indian investors rubbing their hands. Four years is a lot of lost sleep and lost opportunity. Worse, the strategy going forward seems to be locked in the past – coal and gas Independent Power Plants aplenty. There is no innovation towards developing for example a local solar energy industry, or partnering with alternative energy expertise from India or elsewhere. In a vast country that benefits from year-round sunshine, this is stupid. The vested interests are clear to see: people with money will continue to be forced into buying expensive and expensive to run/maintain generator sets (yet it’s getting more and more difficult to buy the increasingly expensive diesel needed to run them in Abuja at present). The fact that there isn’t any serious joint- venture with solar energy companies from overseas in a country crying out for such can only provoke suspicion. There are rays of hope, with energy efficiency solutions emerging for specific industry sectors, but the outlook for the private or small business electricity consumer whether in Lagos, Abuja or elsewhere in Nigeria for the next few years remains bleak.
Posted on: Tue, 09 Jul 2013 15:42:00 +0000
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