Today I stumbled on a post on naijaloaded about what one would do to fix the power problems in Nigeria if given the role of power minister so I wrote a long comment there, I have therefore decided to post it here too and open the same discussion, please contribute.

As an Electrical Engineer, I believe that to solve the electric power problem of Nigeria, the government has to make it of paramount importance meaning it should be given utmost priority because if we have constant electricity, many other things we need will automatically fall into place.

There are 3 stages in the process of providing power to consumers - Generation, Transmission and Distribution. In Nigeria , we currently have a generating capacity of about 6500 Megawatts and a transmission capacity of about 6000 MW. On the average, 1MW can provide constant electricity to 1000 homes so our generating capacity is only capable of providing power for 1000x6500 = 6.5 million homes and we haven't even talked about industries who need very large amounts of power (a company as big as Dangote's Obajana Cement might need up to 50 MW or more).

Nigeria has a population of about 200 million people and my estimate is 7 people per home so we have approximately 28 million homes so it means we need about 30,000 MW for just houses alone, when you consider companies we need approx. 40,000 megawatts to have constant electricity supply.

1 MW of power costs approximately 1 million dollars to generate depending on the type of power plant, this means the remaining 34,000 MW we need will cost approx. 34 billion US Dollars, mehn dtz huge! To achieve this, I believe the government needs to approach private investors and give them juicy offers such as tax reliefs and all.

The best resource in my view to generate electricity in Nigeria is gas because we have a very large reserve of it (188 trillion cubic feet) which makes us 9th position in the list of countries with the largest gas reserves in the world (this should be a major revenue earner but its not but that's for another day). If we can exploit our gas reserves properly, we should have more than enough to power this country and export. The government has to solve the issue of oil and gas vandalism once and for all too or else all work will be in vain.

The transmission system has to be upgraded and expanded to meet up with the 40,000 MW to be generated thus private investors have to be involved in this sector too and the construction should be done simultaneously with that of the power plants.

The distribution system has to be upgraded and expanded too simultaneously with generation and transmission systems because electric power cannot be stored so if there is no way to evacuate it, the companies will lose and will therefore not be willing to invest. The metering system has to be upgraded, the government should work to provide free or if that's not feasible, low cost(maybe 5,000 -10,000 Naira) prepaid power meters to all consumers so that the money spent by the companies can be recouped and profit made.

In conclusion I think the government should get technocrats in the power field and pay them to develop a comprehensive roadmap for the power industry in Nigeria which should have the Generation, Transmission and Distribution sectors developed simultaneously and specify the time it will take to achieve the goal and then work tirelessly to achieve the goal within the time frame set.

They also need to get Investors and convince them that Nigeria is a good place to invest in power using the roadmap as proof of seriousness. I also think that Nigerians should be allowed to invest in those companies and at least 50% of any company's Nigerian arm should be Nigerian owned to prevent Nigerians from been cheated. I know that it will take some time but if these policies are implemented, I believe Nigeria can have constant electricity supply by 2022.

I'm just a fresh graduate sha so what do I know. Please add your views and thoughts.

Approach Private investors with Juicy deals ?


Jonathan already sold NEPA to Private investors

Good

I didn't say privatize the sector, we have very few investors as at now so I mean approach more of them.

DaBullIT:
Approach Private investors with Juicy deals ?


Jonathan already sold NEPA to Private investors

Where are the intellectuals on nl

Break this country and see everytin fall in line.... u are just wasting ur time

Ways to Solve Nigeria's Perennial Power Generation Problems
Nigeria's development has been pegged back on several occasions due to the inconsistent and insufficient power generation. After some careful thoughts, I have come up with a blueprint on how to stabilise and improve power generation in the country.

1. Gas Powered Plants Should Be Sited Close to Source

To stop the the incessant vandalism of gas pipelines, gas powered plants from now on should only be sited close to areas where gas is produced.
Why so? Pipelines will be easier to be monitored by security agents since the area under surveillance is within short distance. It makes no sense to site plants several kilometer from source of gas as this makes pipeline protection and surveillance virtually impossible.
Pipelines transversing long kilometer stretch might work in saner and developed climes but given that some Nigerians have poor mentality by continuously destroying government property, it won't work over here.

2. Gas Plants far away from gas source should be converted to coal powered

Why so? Firstly, government has to revamp coal production. Though coal is seen as a "dirty" source of energy due to its calamitous effect on the environment, as the saying goes, "Beggars are not choosers". Nigeria lacks the sufficient power to trigger its industrial revolution and must henceforth look for any source of energy , both clean or dirty to bolster its economy.
As we can observe from the country, almost all plants sited far away from gas source are performing below expectations and producing far less power that it was originally meant to, at this is due to insufficient gas supply which can be linked to the consistent tampering of gas pipelines.
Converting them to coal powered will eliminate this problem and also make them function at effective level, it also saves money that would have been wasted in repairing this vandalised pipelines on a weekly basis.
Conversion to coal power isn't that hard and only requires replacing gas turbines with steam turbines. Coal can be easily transported through road or rail.

3. Solar Powered Plants should be set up at the north

The north is blessed with abundant sunlight, we should therefore not waste this gift of nature. Solar powered plants should be set up all around areas with intense sunlight eg Sokoto.
The generated MW from these plants might be small when compared to those produced by carbon(gas and coal) but it still very beneficial to our power grid.

4. Upgrading existing plants with new turbines

New turbines should purchased in addition with the old ones to improve MW of power to be generated.

5. Bio gas Plants

Nigeria should consider investing in bio gas plants. Plants can be sited in cities with huge population and huge waste eg Lagos and Kano.
It serves two purpose; as it makes our environment cleaner by recycling waste and also produces a reasonable amount of power to be added to the grid.

Nobi Buhari find trouble? Why did he go and provoke Tompolo

The best out-of-the-box idea is simpl but hard for monkeys and baboon- Divide the cesspit into manageable independent countries, let everyone fend for himself, competition will then drive the different countries into successfully make life better for their citizens.

I maintain that nigeria is too big to be managed by one African let alone a 'west germany' dulllard. The opposing 'pros and cons' forces won't allow it prosper. This is common sense but do African monkeys and baboons have it?

Nigeria with a population of over 200 million people sell electricity to other neighbouring African countries, but cannot gives its citizens steady electricity supply. In this video we check out the challenges, the problems and the probable solutions.







https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=87wFFXKCys4&t=42s

Shareholders commend Transcorp for Industry Leading Role in Improving Access to Electricity in Nigeria

Shareholders of Transnational Corporation of Nigeria Plc (Transcorp) strongly commended the Board and management for Transcorp’s impressive contribution to transforming the Nigerian power sector, through its power subsidiary, Transcorp Power. The commendations were received at the 12th Annual General Meeting of Transcorp, held on April 30th, 2018, at Oriental Hotel, Victoria Island, Lagos. The shareholders were responding to Transcorp’s exceptional feat of increasing the available capacity of its power generation plant from 160MW, when acquired in 2013, to 701MW by November 2017, surpassing the demanding performance target of 670MW by August 2018, set for Transcorp by the Bureau for Public Enterprises in 2013.

Through its consistent performance, Transcorp has led the power industry in delivering a sustained increase in available and generated capacity in Nigeria, consistently leading the power generation sector in Nigeria, in terms of capacity and with an impeccable health and safety record. Transcorp continues to be the backbone for improved access to electricity across Nigeria, and this was emphasised by the National President, Association for the Advancement Rights Nigerian Shareholders, Dr. Faruk Umar, who expressed appreciation for the commendable performance of the company.

https://transcorppower.com/2018/05/04/shareholders-commend-transcorp-for-industry-leading-role-in-improving-access-to-electricity-in-nigeria/

why re you breaking your head for something that is clearly known to be political. when our leaders are ready to stop playing politics with power then it will be constantly available to all. We all know that disintegrating the power sector is the way to go but they would rather beat around the bush and pretend as if we are serious in ending the lingering power problems in our country while we are not.Nigeria! where no thing work due to politics and corruption, i hail thee.

We should all learn to pay our bills and avoid bypassing meters, simple!

Well the only solution I can think of is.

The South should make use of Gas and Coal to generate electricity.

The North should make use of Solar to generate electricity..

This will serve as a backup to the National grild we rely on..

Just like inverter, Immediately they take of the light, It will continue working without blinking a bit...
We can make use of these method and actualized 24/7 supply of light...

Finally, Meter is important and people should pay for electricity.
If Power supply should be 24/7, and there is any citizen who failed to pay his or her bill should face the court...

This will make people to be more serious