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Tag: Power sector

Senate to grill minister over N147bn projects in Power Sector
The Senate Committee on Power has summoned Minister of Finance, Zainab Ahmed, over N147 billion included in the capital project of the Ministry of Power.
The Chairman of the Committee, Senator Gabriel Suswam, who invited the Minister during the budget defence of the Ministry of Power, claimed that the committee could not explain how the funds for the multilateral projects in the power sector were being expended .
Suswam said, “The actual capital budget of the Ministry of power for the 2023 is N44 billion while N147 billion is meant for bilateral and multilateral projects
“We can’t explain how they are expended. You can’t lay your hand on the projects, and we cannot oversight it. The Ministry of Power does not know about it.
“We are inviting the Minister of Finance to come and explain to us. The money has been put in the budget year in, year out without specifying the purpose.”
The Minister of Power presented a total budget of N250bn on behalf of the ministry.
November 3, 2022
Power Sector Regulators Approve Dangana As New KEDCO MD/CEO
By Jabiru Hassan, Kano.
Power sector regulators, Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) and Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) have approved the appointment of the Board of Kano Electricity Distribution Company Plc (KEDCO).
In a press statement signed and issued to our correspondent, the company’s head of corporate communications malam Ibrahim Sani Shawai disclosed that
the approval followed the Federal Government’s restructuring of 5 DisCos, as a result of takeover of 3 DisCos by Fidelity Bank of which KEDCO is among which led to the dissolution of the KEDCO’s board of directors.
In this regard, NERC and BPE approved Ahmed Dangana, a seasoned management consultant and a business turnaround specialist as the new MD/CEO of the company.
Dangana will consolidate on the achievements of past management to improve operational efficiency and deliver long term value in the company by reducing Aggregate Technical, Commercial and Collection (ATC&C) losses and improving the company’s revenue base.
With over 16 years experience in managing diverse portfolios across multiple sectors of the economy including power, investment banking, public finance, oil and gas and agro-allied industry, he will bring on board his deep experience in business transformation to maximise value for all KEDCO stakeholders.
Prior to his appointment, Ahmed Dangana was a senior executive with Ernst and Young (EY), a multinational professional services firm providing consulting, assurance, tax and transactions services for clients in public and private sectors where, he led the Finance Transformation team in West Africa with focus on corporate restructure, financial management and business transformation.
In this role, he led various projects with governments, development finance institutions and corporate entities on key developmental initiatives where the regulators also approved Ambassador Hassan Tukur as the chairman Board of Directors.
Other members of the board are; Mr. Nelson Ahaneku, Engr Rabiu Suleiman, Mr Amaechi C. Aloke and Dr. Bashir Gwandu while Upon assumption to duty, the MD/CEO assured customers and all stakeholders of improved service delivery and electricity supply in Kano franchise, especially after the completion of the ongoing capex projects on network expansion and maintenance.
July 21, 2022
Nigeria’s power sector not performing optimally – Gbajabiamila
…says House ready for legislative intervention
The Speaker of the House of Representatives Rep. Femi Gbajabiamila has said that the Nigerian electric power sector is not performing optimally, a development he said must change for the better.
Gbajabiamila said, however, that Nigerians are in agreement that it is “the responsibility of the government to do something about this situation.”
Declaring open a public hearing on the Electric Power Sector Reform Act (Amendment) Bill and three others organized by the House Committee on Power, chaired by Hon. Magaji Da’u Aliyu, on Tuesday at the National Assembly, Gbajabiamila said the House was ready to carry out a long-overdue legislative reform of the sector.
He said: “Every Nigerian understands that the electric power sector in Nigeria is not performing optimally. Most people recognise that a situation where we cannot expect twenty-four-hour electricity in our cities and many rural areas remain wholly disconnected from the benefits of access to electricity is unacceptable.
“We all, for the most part, agree that it is the responsibility of the government to do something about this situation.”
Gbajabiamila said ordinary citizens, power industry operators, regulators and government all have different understandings of why the dysfunction in the power sector exists and persists and that “there are just as many ideas and recommendations for how to fix it.”
He noted that the Electric Power Sector Reform Act, 2005 is a substantial piece of legislation and remains the most significant statutory reform of the power sector in Nigeria for a generation.
“When it was written and passed into law, it was intended that the provisions of the Act would establish a new framework for optimal public-private sector collaboration to accelerate development in the power sector and promote efficiency across the power sector value chain.
“The extent to which these expectations have been met is one of the many issues in contention. Answering the question of what needs to be done to improve the Act so that it serves the best purposes of our country is the reason we have gathered here in this public hearing.”
He said the public hearing was an opportunity for stakeholders, both in government and the private sector, to participate in a structured conversation and contribute views that will help the House “undertake a long-overdue reform of one of the critical legislation governing the operations of the power sector in Nigeria.”
In considering the Bills, he urged the stakeholders to set aside all other considerations except those that are in the best interests of Nigeria and assured them that the House would do everything “within its constitutional authority to consider and safeguard all interests within reason.”
He commended the chairman and members of the House Committee on Power for their hard work on the bills and appreciated the efforts of all who worked to improve the legislative proposal to this advanced stage.
Earlier in his welcome remarks, the Committee Chairman, Hon. Da’u said the hearing was considered necessary to enable the committee to utilise the outcome of the exercise to address gaps in the existing laws to strengthen the Nigerian power sector for efficient service delivery.
Saying that the committee was overwhelmed by the support of the leadership of the House led by the speaker, Hon. Da’u assured of the committee’s determination to provide a conducive platform to generate information that would enrich the proposals.
He said the committee would discharge its responsibility in line with its legislative mandate.
December 14, 2021
NASS, NERC to partner on legal framework to protect investment in power sector
The National Assembly (NASS) says it is working with the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) to put in place a legal framework that will protect investment in the power sector.
Sen. Gabriel Suswan, Chairman, Senate Committee on Power, stated this in Abuja on Monday when he led members of the committee on an oversight visit to NERC Headquarters.
Suswan said that what was in place was a Reform Sector Act which was put together by NASS in 2005 to enable government to privatise the electricity entity.
“We have gone beyond privatisation, there has to be an Electricity Act for the country that will touch on the issue of energy theft, how people will be sanctioned and those that bypass meters.
“And it will also create that environment that gives potential investors assurance that their investments are protected.
“Beyond the Reform Act, issues have cropped up that needed to be addressed, so we need a legal framework that will put in place enabling environment for potential investors.
“To have a sense of protection and NERC is supporting us on this project,”he said.
Suswan appealed to NERC to halt the implementation of the hike in tariff, saying that NASS was not opposed to the proposed increase in electricity tariff, but the timing of the exercise.
He said that it was better that the Federal Government took the burden of the hike instead of Nigerians within the period, as the sector awaited the activation of the service reflective tariff.
“Within this period, you could have taken some major decisions on the issue of metering which is very central. We at NASS are all informed of the challenges in the sector.
“So, we say tarry a while to allow Nigerians recover from COVID-19 pandemic. We will continue to appeal to you and give you all support so that we will not be solving one problem and creating a political problem.
Susan, while commending NERC on the good job it was doing, said that the visit was for the committee to have a first hand information on the challenges faced by the regulator.
He said there was need to provide a conducive working environment for the commission to make them perform better in the regulatory function assigned to them.
Earlier the Chairman of NERC, Prof. James Momoh, said there was need to review the Electricity Act and Policy of government to make things work.
Momoh said that a mechanism had been put in place to absorb the masses of the adverse impacts of the electricity hike.
“It is not going to affect the poor. We will make sure that the downtrodden and the people you feel for at the moment will not be affected by any increase we will be bringing forth.
“It will be based on the hours of service and the quality of power available there. We don’t want the poor to subsidise the payment of the rich.
“In other words, we must make sure that the poor are not sacrificed in the process of tariff increase,”he said. (NAN)
July 13, 2020
World Bank approves $750m power sector recovery operation for Nigeria
The World Bank has approved a 750 million dollars International Development Association (IDA) credit for Nigeria’s Power Sector Recovery Operation (PSRO) to improve electricity supply.
The Bank, in statement in Abuja on Wednesday, said that the target was to also achieve financial and fiscal sustainability and enhance accountability in Nigeria’s power sector.
It explained that about 47 per cent of Nigerians did not have access to grid electricity and those who had access, faced regular power cuts.
According to the bank, the economic cost of power shortages in Nigeria is estimated at around 28 billion dollars, which is equivalent to two per cent of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
It stated that getting access to electricity was one of the major constraints for the private sector according to the Ease of Doing Business report.
It added that improving power sector performance, particularly in the non-oil sectors of manufacturing and services, would be central to unlocking economic growth post COVID-19.
The statement quoted Shubham Chaudhuri, World Bank Country Director for Nigeria, as saying “lack of reliable power has stifled economic activity and private investment and job creation.
”This is ultimately what is needed to lift 100 million Nigerians out of poverty.
“The objective of this operation is to help turn around the power sector and set it on a fiscally sustainable path. This is particularly urgent at a time when the government needs all the fiscal resources it can marshal to help protect lives and livelihoods amid the COVID-19 pandemic”.
The bank said that PSRO would provide results-based financing to support the implementation of the Government’s Power Sector Recovery Programme (PSRP).
It further explained that the PSRP was a comprehensive programme to restore the power sector’s financial viability, improve service delivery and reduce its fiscal burden.
“The PSRO is expected to increase annual electricity supplied to the distribution grid, enhance power sector financial viability while reducing annual tariff shortfalls and protecting the poor from the impact of tariff adjustments.
“This will enable the turnaround of power sector while helping the Federal Government to redirect large fiscal resources from highly regressive tariff shortfall financing towards critical crisis-responsive and pro-poor expenditures. It will also increase public awareness about ongoing power sector reforms and performance.
“Specifically, the PSRO will ensure that 4,500 mwh/hour of electricity is supplied to the distribution grid by 2022 by strengthening the regulatory, policy and financing framework.
“It will also enhance the accountability and financial viability of the sector, helping the sector create a track record of sustainable operation necessary for unlocking much needed private investments in the future,” the Bank explained. (NAN)
June 24, 2020
Minister urges coordinated efforts to address challenges in power sector
The Minister of Power, Mr Sale Mamman, has called for coordinated efforts among stakeholders to address the growing challenges in the power sector and propel it to a viable path of development.
Mamman made the call at the 11th International Conference on Energy, Power Systems Operations and Planning (ICEPSOP 2020) in Abuja on Monday.
The three-day conference has the theme, “Empowering Micro Grid with Smart Grid Attributes Development in U.S. and Africa.”
He said that the coordinated efforts should be in line with market reforms resulting from a clear policy imperative, taking cognisance of the country’s journey in the reforms since 2005.
According to him, the power sector is a market in transition and like most privitasation efforts across the globe, is not without challenges.
“Currently, the misalignment along the electricity value chain from generation to last mile delivery is perhaps the most straining challenge in this chapter of market reforms.
“Added to that is the paltry remittance from downstream participants of an average 29 per cent of market invoice, inadequate feedstock and a growing under-served base,’’ he said.
Mamman said that to address the country’s energy supply challenges, the Federal Government had identified five focal areas to be addressed.
He listed the focal areas as infrastructure alignment, market efficiency and transparency, corporate governance/sector policy coordination, increased energy access and execution of legacy projects.
The minister urged all stakeholders, including the public, to key into the Federal Government’s renewed efforts to reposition the sector in the hope of achieving the benefits of market reforms.
“We would need all hands on deck to successfully re-write our privitisation experience,” he said.
The Chairman, House Committee on Power, Rep Magaji Aliyu, said that as the country battled to generate, transmit and distribute electricity, it had serious challenges in most rural areas.
Aliyu said that mini grid development was very crucial in addressing power supply to the remote areas of the country.
“The development of mini grid in Nigeria as well as most other developing nations will take off pressure from operators of the main grid.
“Having realised that the mini grid is essential to improving the performance of the power sector, it becomes important to holistically look at this area vis-à-vis the merits and demerits, ‘’ he said.
Earlier, Prof James Momoh, Chairman of Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), said the conference would provide the required atmosphere to explore innovative regulatory approaches in promoting efficient and competitive service delivery.
Momoh said such delivery would involve deployment of smart and micro-grid technologies – Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA), smart meters, distributed communication and intelligence access to adequate power and distributed energy resources.
“Others are energy efficiency and demand management tools, cost reflective tariffs, automation of review processes, enhancement in data analytics, new markets willing buyer willing seller models, franchising, embedded generation, mini-grids, ‘’ he said.
The conference was attended by scholars, researchers, policy makers, regulators, industry operators, students and consumer groups. (NAN)
January 21, 2020