States Will Soon Distribute Power - Goodluck

Written by Bolaji Ogundele, Port Harcourt

States and other interests involved in power generation in the country would soon be enabled to build their own distribution networks, President Goodluck Jonathan has assured.

President Jonathan, speaking while commissioning the 100 megawatts power station at Trans-Amadi, Port Harcourt, on Friday, expressed the opinion that generating power without capacity to get such to the end users was futile.

He, however, promised to get on sorting the situation out.

Responding to a request put to him by the Rivers State governor, Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, the president said as soon as he returned to Abuja, he was going to get the Minister of State on Power, Malam Nuhu Somo-Wya, to see to setting the machinery for distribution enablement going.

“Immediately we get to Abuja, I will tell the Minister of Power to set up the machinery that will ensure that the power generated is distributed, this is because there is no point generating power when you can’t distribute it. It doesn’t matter who generates power or who distributes it, government is government.

“We must reduce bureaucracy if we must achieve our aim of enjoying regular power supply. We will reduce the bureaucracy and other outstanding legal issues in order to allow power generated to get to the people,” President Jonathan said.

The president commended the state governor for his efforts at making life easy for the people of the state, especially in the area of power.

Earlier, after conducting the president round the power facility, Amaechi re-echoed calls to the Federal Government to untangle the entire power sector by giving states and other investors in power generation licence to build their own distribution networks.

According to him, this is the only way the efforts of government on the power sector could be seen and appreciated round the country.

After inaugurating the power station, the president headed to the Oil and Gas Free Zone at Onne where he inaugurating some port facilities.

After performing the tasks at the Onne Port, the president observed that the Private Public Partnership (PPP) was yielding desired results in the country, saying that his administration would encourage genuine investors in the country.

He  commended the Rivers State governor for providing the enabling environment in the state for businesses to flourish.

Afterwards, the  President moved on from the Onne Port to the Sharks Stadium in Port Harcourt where a mammoth from the state and other states of the region were waiting to host him to a grand reception.

mikeansy:

Gbawe

I don't think your comment on OBJ is fair at all. The good project started by OBJ was not continued by Yar'adua. The Yar'adua men spent more time trying to nail OBJ than finding solutions for power problems.

Keep in mind some of the good things Jonathan is doing right now is fastforwarding the process of transporting energy plants from the seaport to sites where they are needed urgently. These Energy plants were not imported by the Yar'adua boys, OBJ did.

vigasimple:

Very well overdue.

Let me break it down.  Nigeria requires about 50,000mw of electricity. we have 36 states/787 local govt.

50,000mw divided by 36 =  1400mw approx, if they build 60mw per month, each state will complete it in 24months

50,000mw divided by 787 = 64mw per each local govt, again if they build about 3mw every month , they will do it in 24 months.

check out  www.nigeriansforsuperenergy.com   to see what is possible if we put our minds to it.

Good luck to Nigeria if Goodluck Jonathan has seen the light

ndu_chucks:

This is a very bad idea. Governments are not known to run businesses efficiently. [b]Power distribution should be handled by profit motivated corporations who will safeguard the assets and run the system efficiently.

What GJ needs to do is to sell the distribution assets to corporations (preferably joint ventures - proven US/UK/China distribution companies with Nigerian partners) and let them run the distribution system.[/b]Governments, whether state of federal are incapable of running the distribution system efficiently.

ndu_chucks:

This is a very bad idea. Governments are not known to run businesses efficiently. Power distribution should be handled by profit motivated corporations who will safeguard the assets and run the system efficiently.

What GJ needs to do is to sell the distribution assets to corporations (preferably joint ventures - proven US/UK/China distribution companies with Nigerian partners) and let them run the distribution system.

Governments, whether state of federal are incapable of running the distribution system efficiently.

kettykings:

Another attempt to pass the buck to states will not work , what has state governments ever managed well , also how about states without coal , gas and dammed water

ndu_chucks:

This is a very bad idea. Governments are not known to run businesses efficiently. Power distribution should be handled by profit motivated corporations who will safeguard the assets and run the system efficiently.

What GJ needs to do is to sell the distribution assets to corporations (preferably joint ventures - proven US/UK/China distribution companies with Nigerian partners) and let them run the distribution system.

Governments, whether state of federal are incapable of running the distribution system efficiently.

edoyad:

Go and check any real economy in this world and tell me where provision of such essential services like water, light, health, telcom and transport is left entirely in the hands of the private sector. By decentralising power generation serious minded states like lagos that already have a plan on what they want to do will be able to carry out their industrialisation process without being buoyed down by other parts of the country that are clueless and depend on the center for everything. 

auwal87:

Only if the states have been successful in distributing water, the move would have been a perfect one.

ndu_chucks:

This is a very bad idea. Governments are not known to run businesses efficiently. Power distribution should be handled by profit motivated corporations who will safeguard the assets and run the system efficiently.
What GJ needs to do is to sell the distribution assets to corporations (preferably joint ventures - proven US/UK/China distribution companies with Nigerian partners) and let them run the distribution system.

Governments, whether state of federal are incapable of running the distribution system efficiently.

kettykings:

Another attempt to pass the buck to states will not work , what has state governments ever managed well , also how about states without coal , gas and dammed water

blacksta:

Talk is cheap and Nigerians are the most easily deceived people on earth. At the entry of every new president big speeches are made but in the end nothing comes out of it. Mr GJ inaugurated ministers roughly 3 months ago and promised immediate blueprints for each ministries till today as usual nothing. Please learn to manage your expectations - it is business as usual for Mr GJ and his cronies - at the end of 11 months we will back to square one.

Very well overdue.

Let me break it down.  Nigeria requires about 50,000mw of electricity. we have 36 states/787 local govt.

50,000mw divided by 36 =  1400mw approx, if they build 60mw per month, each state will complete it in 24months

50,000mw divided by 787 = 64mw per each local govt, again if they build about 3mw every month , they will do it in 24 months.

About the telecoms sector, that to me is even an embarrassment. Nigeria is one of the few countries in the world where organisations leave mobile phone nos as contact nos. Do we even have 911 or 991 ?

Regardless of corruption , most States would probably secure minimally acceptable power supply for citizens if they are allowed to generate and distribute their own power. States like Lagos are already very adept at deploying PPP (private-public-partnership) effectively . If allowed to distribute their own power I would bet that Fashola would not inaugurate an unwieldy and uneccesarily bureaucratic State-owned distribution entity that would waste more time and money while achieving nothing .  He would simply deploy experienced International power sector giants to design and implement a cohesive , integrated and modular power plan that allows for future tweaks and expansion. Jonathan's initiative is a step in the right direction because we have to understand that some States have Generation and distribution challenges . States can already generate power but they cannot distribute it. Allowing them to distribute power means that serious States move closer to controlling the pace of their own development.

Remember also that Jonathan does not have much time for grandiose schemes that will have little impact in the next few months and may be abrogated if a new man takes charge . He must impress in a short while. Jonathan is no fool. He will be aware that some IPP's currently exist that are not in use because of distribution issues. He will reason that if States are allowed to distribute we may see some of these IPP's add appreciable power to the grid before the end of the year . Who will then be looking Good(luck) ?

Very well overdue.

Let me break it down. Nigeria requires about 50,000mw of electricity. we have 36 states/787 local govt.

50,000mw divided by 36 =  1400mw approx, if they build 60mw per month, each state will complete it in 24months

50,000mw divided by 787 = 64mw per each local govt, again if they build about 3mw every month , they will do it in 24 months.

check out  www.nigeriansforsuperenergy.com   to see what is possible if we put our minds to it.

Good luck to Nigeria if Goodluck Jonathan has seen the light

lagos will require well over 2500MW(i'm being very careful in naming numbers here so) at roughly 1$(that's optimistic) per kwh how much would that cost? the present cost of electricity would more than quadruple. part of what's killing nigeria is how much we pay for electricity, we dont pay enough(that's why foreign companies aren't coming to build power stations now)

paddy_lo:

Isnt this a kind of chicken and egg situation?

We dont pay enough for electricity. . so foriegn companies are not incentivized to come in

and if they are incentivized to come in. . Then the cost of electricity will be too much to afford

I believe that the Govt can deregulate the price of power.  .
but it can also help the companies by giving them tax breaks.  .or cheap funding(1%) to build power plants

I know its not the same,but Foreign telecomms companies have spent close to $18billion since 2000 to roll out services in nigeria
If we can get something like that in the power sector,it should be a win win

Perhaps they can use prepaid meters,and people can buy what they can afford upfront

paddy_lo:


Isnt this a kind of chicken and egg situation?

We dont pay enough for electricity. . so foriegn companies are not incentivized to come in

and if they are incentivized to come in. . Then the cost of electricity will be too much to afford

I believe that the Govt can deregulate the price of power. .
but it can also help the companies by giving them tax breaks. .or cheap funding(1%) to build power plants

I know its not the same,but Foreign telecomms companies have spent close to $18billion since 2000 to roll out services in nigeria
If we can get something like that in the power sector,it should be a win win

Perhaps they can use prepaid meters,and people can buy what they can afford upfront