Power epilepsy: Fixing the threatening strings of national economic crises
Power supply has remained of top concern among the plethora of discordant notations taking reflections of deformities in the profile of socio-economic fabrics of Nigeria. The worsened records of supply most recently have become worrisome at a time where the promise to get the power sector fixed only grew to see electricity in the Country wax gross. Collapse of the national grid has not ceased from the narratives, just as underproductivity of power generating architectures have been on the roll of sour records.
While there has been arguments and blame-trade among the lines of operations from the Generation Companies to the Transmission, down to the Distribution Companies, the whole narratives remain that the architecture of power supply in the Country is in disarray and shambles, leaving an imprint of epileptic power supply in the Country.
Reports revealed Power supply from the National Grid as at Sunday evening, May 08, 2022, fell to 3,320.70 Megawatts. Data from the National System Operator showed that about 5:00pm, Sunday evening, 19 power Generation Companies were on the grid. Some power plants were noted to be generating as low as 46.20MW. The largest electricity supplier was Egbin Power with 544MW, followed by Azura-Edo IPP with 426MW and Delta Power with 367MW. On the Distribution chain, it was reported the eleven electricity Distribution Companies (DisCos) were willing to take only 2,949.02MW, leaving 371.68MW unallocated.
Despite deficiencies in supply, increase in electricity tariff have continued to surface, leaving households and businesses in lamentation of a two faceted disharmonious resonance of poor supply amidst price hike. Recall that last Thursday, 5th of May, 2022, the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) had reeled out new adjustment to electricity tariff, reflecting about 12 percent rise in price for some consumers. The increase would however not translate into better experience in power supply, as DisCos have been observed still underperforming with continuous load rejections. In reaction to the deficits, the Association of Nigerian Electricity Distributors (ANED) had blamed the System Operator, a unit at the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), for the low supply by the DisCos. The Association in a statement by its Executive Director, Research and Advocacy, Barrister Oduntan, had explained that the loads nominated by the DisCos were more than what they were getting from the national grid. The statement had read partly: “There were significant periods of low or reduced energy supply nationwide, leading up to the month of April, as a result of the various factors stated by the Minister of Power, Engr. Abubakar Aliyu, in March of this year. As such, the energy supplied to the distribution end of the value chain has been constrained. DisCos remain committed to continually improving on electricity supply services based on the energy that is made available to them on the grid on a daily basis. Additionally, we continue to believe that the challenges of the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry (NESI) can best be resolved with collaboration and alignment of all the interests of the stakeholders versus finger pointing.”
The blame trade among the operating lines of the architecture has been a phenomenon resonating in the power sector. The reflections are, only in summation, pointers reflecting deficiencies in all the three operating structures – the Generation Companies, Transmission Company and the Distribution Companies – non spared from deficits of productivity.
The imbecilic profile of power architecture in the Country is largely fraught with deficiencies making the line of comparative assessment between the output of power provisions and the economic demands of the Country irreconcilable. The deficits have been so pronounced that propelling industrialisation which is highly demanded for economic growth has been deeply challenged. The possibilities before the Country, economic-wise, have seen huge potentials crumbling to the defects of deficient power supply.
The call for profound revenue generation to provide good fortune for Government spending towards capital project has been on course in recent times. This has been awakened putting in view the need to get more revenue in place of the close resort of the government to borrowings, with strangulating impacts, which have begun to place the fear of a trap before the Country.
However, making such calls a reality would be a facade where the constraints of power deficiencies to businesses, particularly manufacturing entities which have the potentials of driving industrialisation for the demands, are so pronounced. Achieving such in a condition where more factories and businesses are increasingly failing out of operation is still unimaginable. The strains of power deficiencies remain one which have contributed negatively to the frustrations of businesses within a harsh economic environment.
The need to make the environment more friendly for businesses to survive has become a necessity, particularly, at a time where the Country is challenged by increasing unemployment crisis. The rippling effects of the huge unemployment rate have constrained the entire fabrics of the Country with threats of discomfort from various angles.
It has become of necessity for the Government to consider the pressing demands of the necessity to fix the power architectures as an emergency whose continuous relapse in decay has all potentials to plunge the Country, not only, in economic crises, but a colossal mayhem of national degree.
