Nigeria: Power Crisis And Prosperity

Yes, I build web applications and develop custom software when I am not designing and installing reliable inverter backup systems and I am very proud of what I do.

However, I served in the same Mobil Producing Nigeria 2 years before you attempted the interview as a youth corper and failed woefully. Just limiting this to one issue at a time. As you bring up more issues I will respond accordingly and trust me by the time you are done you would have realized that in terms of work experience and value of projects handled you may never be able to come close regardless of your many claims to work in a GSM company.

Oga Afam, may I ask for a few details on inverter battery backup electrical power.  There are so many varieties of these devices sold on the internet, with such a bewildering array of categories, specifications and applications, that it is difficult to tell which system works best to simply provide electrical power at night after being charged up by a generator during the day.

From your experience using inverter backup systems in Nigeria, which brand name and specification of inverter and deep-cycle battery would you consider to be the best and most reliable on the market for Third World use ?   Considering a residential or business concern operating entirely off the national electricity grid, what sort of a setup would in your opinion provide stable electrical power around the clock, by alternating between the inverter/battery system at night, and a 100KVA generator that would charge the system batteries during daylight hours ?

Thanks for any advice you can offer.

Hi Jakumo,

Thanks for your post.

1. The inverter technology is pretty a mature technology with different topologies and implementations hence the variety you see out there. The main problem is with the battery chargers where the charging rates are usually either too high (kills the battery bank faster) or too low (cheaper to produce but still kills the battery bank at a slower rate). This means that the battery charging amps must be designed to charge a given battery voltage and amps properly. This would also mean that the manufacturer must have information about the typical battery Ah that will be used with any capacity inverter (with an integrated charger) instead of the one size fits all scenario we have today with mass produced inverters.

2. Another problem is that some design assumptions made by inverter manufacturers outside Nigeria work well in their countries while they don't here because they don't have the type of embarrassing power problem we have down here. That is where some inverters come with very small charging amps with the basic assumption that these inverters are used for say emergencies and should have more than enough time and power to recharge the battery bank when depleted. You know that in Nigeria here you can barely guarantee 8 hrs in a day.

3. Then the components matter. The same way the average Nigerian wire is termed the most reliable and expensive in the market is the same way the transformer coils that are assessed locally are more reliable than most imported transformers with aluminium rather than copper as the choice. The choice of transistors again has a huge impact as some transistors perform better in certain scenarios based on what features you prefer. Management of any heat generated is another issue that if not handled properly can damage the components.

So, there are a lot of issues why you have a varying degree of reliability of inverters out there.

We build modified sine wave inverters and you can't use these inverters for any sensitive medical equipment, laser copiers, laser printers but works ok with over 95% of electrical or electronic appliances out there. True or pure sine wave inverters are the best in terms of wave output but generally cost more.

Now to the questions

1. It is difficult to state the best inverter because I have not tried many, in fact I have been able to install just one imported true sine wave inverter in about 6 years and after that experience I decided not to do so again because in the cause of diagnosing the problem that came up in the 11th month of usage I found out that the charger was just 6 amps for a 5KVA 180VDC inverter that provided more than 4 days backup until the problem came to the fore. Obviously, the battery bank had never seen full charge since installation date and was able to hold out for that long because the batteries used were the best I have seen and used myself. Power safe brand of Enersys batteries is the brand.

But these batteries are really expensive. To give you an idea of how expensive it is, a typical good 12V 200Ah deep cycle battery hovers around N50,000.00 but the landing cost of the Power safe brand with the same 12V 200Ah comes to about N125,000.00. Batteries from USA or Europe generally are more reliable because they use virgin lead in the battery manufacturing process whereas in Asia the use of recycled lead is common and basically an acceptable standard. You still need to beware of American battery makers that have manufacturing plants in Asia because the plants in Asia may as well build these batteries with recycled lead and probably ship them to Africa or other countries that don't pay attention to standards or insist on certain standards.

So, when it comes to installing inverters the only ones I can guarantee the workability and offer 1 year warranty where repairs or outright replacements are done at zero cost to the owner are the ones we build ourselves because we have 100% control in the building process from the components selection to the setup even though the building process is not automated so cannot produce them in large quantities and only do so based on orders.

2. Any generator system that runs during the day can support a reliable inverter backup system at night, in fact this hybrid system will be more reliable than a typical PHCN/Inverter system because PHCN does not provide power everyday.

However, unless the items in questions are listed (with their power ratings) no one can give you any reasonable information as regards the inverter capacity, number of battery banks required and their associated costs. Doing so would amount to going into a war with a blindfold.

Even at that an energy efficiency program may be implemented to crash the loads. It is always cheaper to replace some items and build a reliable inverter backup system than it is to build an inverter backup system to support any current load that are not energy efficient. For example, an inverter backup system that will provide 24 hrs backup for a desktop computer would provide between 72 hrs and 96 hrs for a laptop computer. Same with other loads with more energy efficient alternatives.

Sorry for the long post but needed to clear up some issues that have been misleading or misunderstood in the power inverter area.

You may read more articles @ justalternativepower.com/articles.php

Please, address me as Afam, just Afam.

Enjoy the rest of the weekend.

the only sectors that work in naija are dominated by youthss check. banking, it, entertainment. the oil industry is dominated by them thats y were in sh.t. theyve got to go

No wahala. Enjoy!

someone said this a few pages earlier; even the hard facts you seek are corrupt emanating from the MINDSET of the nigerians. oceanic bank, first bank and many other bank annual reports which would have been termed facts are lies.

Black africa is finished.

Its a mentality problem - thats the problem with Nigeria.

Proof (for those seeking concrete fact)
Most of the problem in the banking sector today was caused by the "my balance sheet is bigger than yours attitude"[Sanusi quoted]. In an attempt to start competing for larger balance sheet egocentrically and to please friends seeking loans - reckless lending began. no white man in the board of oceanic, UBN, etc. Now look at UAC [I speak factually as a shareholder], they declare moderate profits - not 70% increase or 204% PAT increase (as done by Oceanic) and this has been one of the most stable companies instrinsically and in terms of share price during the stock market dwindle - guess what? there is a British man on UAC board; some have said once the man resigns they will liquidate their holdings.

Now, I am no racist, nor do I have an inferiority complex or anything of that nature but this calls for some self reflection. Why didnt UAC start competing for higher balance sheet compared to BIG TREAT? BLACK MAN EGOCENTRIC MENTALITY

Proof 2
I have lived in the West and im sure many have and I have seen how the white man maintains road assets. It is retrogressive that in many areas of nigeria, primary school areas which once had speed bumps have had them removed because "men of influence" have spoken to the "necessary people". the results - more accidents and killing of children. Why is it that the western countries could use common sense and let these assets remain while the black man will remove them to risk lives of children for money.

Now these things happen decade in decade out. The logical empirical conclusion is that the black man has a retrogressive mentality.

But that is by the way, this thread is Nigeria: Power Crisis And Prosperity. I say the problem is primarily mentality which results in mis management of the power sector which is secondary major problem.

one of the problems of Nigeria is that we like to be less objective. If it is money that is needed to give us power we have it why dont we spend it?

People claimed that Obasanjo chopped 16billion dollars they forget immediately that could not be possible without the help of Technocrats and Technicians if he really did steal the money he would also need bankers and accountants.

read on NL you would hardly see one particular mention that Obasanjo had a company related to power.

If it is money that is needed to solve the power problem we should have solved it long time ago we have the money. Why was Yar'adua very slow. We dont have a leadership crisis We have a citizen crisis.

There was a time that people made statements like

" I dont want to steal small money i want to steal big money"

"If you want to steal read your books and get into power you would steal"

"if you get there you will also steal, Yes If it was me too I will steal so that my generation will never suffer"

"I just want to be where they sign the contract I wont sign if they dont pay me"

You remember the times people did not pay light bills and were illegally connecting?

I will ask anyone if they had 30 billion dollars wether he or she would put it to Power generation with the very likelyhood they will not get anything on investment.

There was one man that was so determined to save Nigeria he spent a lot of money and was betrayed by the technocrats.

 The whole thing is summed up like this

power plant cost 100 million dollars for the technocrats to agree to work with you they tell you that they want you to quote 500 million dollars, you are a whiteman and you say ah this is robbery but you say this people are not your people so you agree.

The technocrats are made and they even say they dont want to work again fly their families to USA and  ko minini. There is a new group of technocrats and they demand money from the contractors the contractors dont give them anything and they say i wont work for another man to chop abeg, They write technical report that the turbine is not specific they sabotage the project because they know that the people before them made alot of money so government must pay for another turbine.

Some are people going to school currently to join this brigade they pray that we dont solve this problem. You will never hear people say anything about the people that approved the contract, but if it is a minister or president that released the money you will hear them talk about it.

We the masses pray for the leadership we get. if you like kill all the leaders that will not solve the problem. The people in the power sector are corrupt and they are waiting for new contracts to be released. What I think the Solution should be is to take away the federal government from the power sector completely. IT IS LIKE THE TECHNOCRATS ARE HOLDING THE MASSES HOSTAGE AND THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT FOOLISHLY PAYS THE RANSOME MONEY.
There must be a prerequisite that for you to lift explore crude oil you must

1) have a refinery
2) have a power plants


All the government should do is to tell the states government to build their own transmission line and pay for what they use to the power companies.

Quote from: rethink on November 09, 2009, 03:57 PM

All the government should do is to tell the states government to build their own transmission line and pay for what they use to the power companies.

This i think is a viable option. . .