@ poster asked for possible solutions clearly not usual criticisms of bad government et al.
as rightly said, we can all sit down and continue blaming the government when there are obviously tangible things we can all contribute to help provide solution to the status quo.
Anyway dude, i recently had an interview (@ the nuclear power station in hunterston)with british energy for the post of a nuclear safety engineer and was highly impressed with d state of the plant after all the years of it functioning. Nuclear power is definitely something the government ought to be looking at as big scale in order to help generate and contribute sufficient energy to the national grid. I heard we have uranium in naij, plus damn good physicist and not forgetting my adequate engineering brodas. The point is let be more of a doer rather than talk all day long criticising without laying down and acting on possible solution.

Another solution that people have talked about is solar energy. This can be targeted in small scale to power the common things like street lights, light bulbs around the house et al. The technology is widely available and we as engineers should be able to provide solution to tailor the needs of common naij. We have enough sun through out the year so why don't we make gud use of it.

I am interested in sharing ideas and possibly go into partnership at a small scale with anyone up for coming up with solutions to the above.

jay bee:

@ poster asked for possible solutions clearly not usual criticisms of bad government et al.

You have to agree that clueless leadership has been largely responsible for the NEPA problem. Enough said. An alternative source of energy like solar or nuclear is good. What about the cost? Have you thought about the risks involved in nuclear power generation? I think we should work on improving what we have. Its not that what we have cannot work. Its just that the wrong people are in control. People pay bills yet they are left in darkness.

@ Albato
Nuclear energy is very secure (offcourse no one can guarantee 100%). Only critical disaster in Europe is Chernobyl and their have been further developments in the nuclear industry to make it safe. Enough regulations that the power plants have to adhere to if u ask me (minimal risk of sabotage).

Only problem for now is where to dispose the waste products (again solution for this is not far away)

Now a little insight on how it works
How an AGR (Advanced Gas cooled reactor) power station works

In an advanced gas-cooled (AGR) station a controlled chain reaction generates heat which turns water into steam. The steam then powers turbines which, in turn, drive the electrical generators.

The Reactor
At the heart of the reactor is a graphite core called the moderator. Running vertically through this core are tubes containing uranium called fuel channels. The moderator has a vital role to play as it slows down the neutrons released by the fuel so that they will interact with other uranium atoms and sustain the chain reaction (This is needed to generate excess heat which boils the water and in turn produces enough steam that drives the turbine).
The Pre-stressed Pressure Vessel
Each reactor is encased in a concrete pressure vessel which acts as a barrier against radiation from the reactor and as a container for the carbon dioxide coolant gas. The walls vary in thickness from 3.8 metres to 6 metres and are pre-stressed by heavy steel wires wound from top to bottom and around the reactor (The thickness of the wall will withstand any man made threat so as to keep the threat of likeage of radiation a no contest) .
Each of the fuel channels in the graphite core continues upwards in a steel tube called a standpipe, sealed at the top, which links to the top surface of the pressure vessel, known as the pile cap.


Fuel Transport
An example of how secure it is "There has never been a fuel flask accident involving the release of radioactivity. Their safety was demonstrated in July 1984 at Old Dalby testing track, when a nuclear flask was placed in the path of an on-coming locomotive and three carriages travelling at 100mph. The flask remained wholly intact and pressure tight, sustaining nothing more than a little shallow denting and superficial damage to its cooling fins (saw the flask with my own koro koro eyes and it's still present at heysham power station near morecambe). The locomotive was not so fortunate – it was written off"


We can't really answer the question on cost without looking at the benefits which is actually much more better that the current energy being used.
It's much cheaper per KW when broken down
Emission is environmental friendly compared to its peers
Fossil fuel might run out with the increase in world population which in turn increases demand on it therefore, less reliant on fossil fuel and increase in usage of alternative energy is highly needed to be able to sustain such growth

Yes we can improve what we currently have but as i have clearly stressed, alternative energy is needed so as to further deposit enough quality electricity on the national grid which in turn will help the gogovernmenteets/realise its so called 20/20 initiative and provide stable power for the masses.

Small villages/towns can look at creating a wind farm (wind energy)

As for solar energy, we don't have to wait for the government to realise an efficient/sufficient solar power for our day to day need. Technology is widely available so lets go get it.

Solutions:
Increase generation capacity to about 10MW now and gradually increase by 5MW every other year.
Cheapest technology suited to our environment
is gas turbine. Others are coal and hydro
Solar is too expensive.

Improve Transmission and Distribution capabilities of PHCN
Make Bill payment more efficient
Commercialise/Privatise PHCN
Retain only productive and trainable PHCN staff
Employ new and more professional staff
Provide adequate tools
Re train/orientate PHCN staff
Re orientate consumers
Decentralise PHCN operations

the gov realised most of u would be tired of NEPA dats why they renamed it PHCN, and so as to justify their reason for Holding power, abi now LMAO

@mendax
running away from a problem is never and will never be the solution
its just like a man who got himself drunk to forget his problem
when he comes backs to his senses, the problem will still be there waiting for him

@ndubest
did i say run & come bak? run & keep runnin
after all u'v seen incl trends, if u hav d opportunity why waste it ,
remember a fool @ 40 is a fool 4 lyf, naija is a fool @ 47yrs and 3 mths, do u still havv hop?

hahahahahehehehe
nigeria don mumu since them born am, there is no hope for a child that was born foolish where he wan get sense from
e mumu pass Spencer, mr bean and charlie chaplin join together
abeg Yardua continue with the comedy jare
make i siddon dey look and laugh like baba 70 talk no be siddon look again
Fool na fool no matter him age
15 to 40, 40 to 100 yes sir?/? abeg second base jare

babasin:

may be you are but surely not ME.

How could you conclude that all Nigerians are corrupt? That's a very wrong and bad insinuation.

dudes are already diverting attention from possible solutions or ways to go about realising our enormous ambition.
small or big scale lets rob mind and come up with how best to utilize known technologies

PHCN problem is beyond any Govt.The issue is that we nigerians are not ready to change our attitude.our attitude towards govt establishment is very bad.we see govt set up as an avenue of making money and not to provide service to nigerians.Also,let us look at how we connect our houses ilegally without paying a kobo to PHCN.This cannot help PHCN to grow.Let us change our attitude so that these organisations would be efficient

Posted by: akpanbaba 
Insert Quote
PHCN problem is beyond any Govt.The issue is that we nigerians are not ready to change our attitude.our attitude towards govt establishment is very bad.we see govt set up as an avenue of making money and not to provide service to nigerians.Also,let us look  at how we connect our houses ilegally without paying a kobo to PHCN.This cannot help PHCN to grow.Let us change our attitude so that these organisations would be efficient

I agree with you

jay bee:

@ Albato
Nuclear energy is very secure (offcourse no one can guarantee 100%). Only critical disaster in Europe is Chernobyl and their have been further developments in the nuclear industry to make it safe. Enough regulations that the power plants have to adhere to if u ask me (minimal risk of sabotage).

Only problem for now is where to dispose the waste products (again solution for this is not far away)

Now a little insight on how it works
How an AGR (Advanced Gas cooled reactor) power station works

In an advanced gas-cooled (AGR) station a controlled chain reaction generates heat which turns water into steam. The steam then powers turbines which, in turn, drive the electrical generators.

The Reactor
At the heart of the reactor is a graphite core called the moderator. Running vertically through this core are tubes containing uranium called fuel channels. The moderator has a vital role to play as it slows down the neutrons released by the fuel so that they will interact with other uranium atoms and sustain the chain reaction (This is needed to generate excess heat which boils the water and in turn produces enough steam that drives the turbine).
The Pre-stressed Pressure Vessel
Each reactor is encased in a concrete pressure vessel which acts as a barrier against radiation from the reactor and as a container for the carbon dioxide coolant gas. The walls vary in thickness from 3.8 metres to 6 metres and are pre-stressed by heavy steel wires wound from top to bottom and around the reactor (The thickness of the wall will withstand any man made threat so as to keep the threat of likeage of radiation a no contest) .
Each of the fuel channels in the graphite core continues upwards in a steel tube called a standpipe, sealed at the top, which links to the top surface of the pressure vessel, known as the pile cap.


Fuel Transport
An example of how secure it is "There has never been a fuel flask accident involving the release of radioactivity. Their safety was demonstrated in July 1984 at Old Dalby testing track, when a nuclear flask was placed in the path of an on-coming locomotive and three carriages travelling at 100mph. The flask remained wholly intact and pressure tight, sustaining nothing more than a little shallow denting and superficial damage to its cooling fins (saw the flask with my own koro koro eyes and it's still present at heysham power station near morecambe). The locomotive was not so fortunate – it was written off"


We can't really answer the question on cost without looking at the benefits which is actually much more better that the current energy being used.
It's much cheaper per KW when broken down
Emission is environmental friendly compared to its peers
Fossil fuel might run out with the increase in world population which in turn increases demand on it therefore, less reliant on fossil fuel and increase in usage of alternative energy is highly needed to be able to sustain such growth

Yes we can improve what we currently have but as i have clearly stressed, alternative energy is needed so as to further deposit enough quality electricity on the national grid which in turn will help the gogovernmenteets/realise its so called 20/20 initiative and provide stable power for the masses.

Small villages/towns can look at creating a wind farm (wind energy)

As for solar energy, we don't have to wait for the government to realise an efficient/sufficient solar power for our day to day need. Technology is widely available so lets go get it.

Great job

PHCN, problem can only be solved, on any day we start being sincere to ourselves, or Govt, should allow every state to produce their own electricity, in that way stronger states will produce for the weaker ones and exploit money from them, I think this will solve our problems, Poster for temporary energy, try get an inverter and batteries instead of generator. Seun does urs serve you well, can you tell the make?

Is it possible to make Nepa or Phcn into something like the telephone industry? Dissect, kill and destroy Nepa into bits like how Nitel is useless since reltel, mtn, glo came into Nigeria. If it's going to be expensive at least we know we are paying for something we know we will get instead of throwing money on fruitless ground.

@ poster,
It's not only you, I nearly ran mad when I was in Nigeria.

The problem we are having didn't start today and it could have been fixed back then when 1 naira was =1 pound but that is not the case.
I have a solution for our problems read carefully:

1,BURN ALL THE JUJU OR WHAT SO EVER THERE ARE CALLED BLACK POWER MAGIC ,POWER WHATEVER ,KILL THEIR WITCH DOCTORS AND THEIR NEXT OF KEEN ;

2 KILL ALL THE OLD AND GREEDY NIGERIAN LEADERS
HOW GO TO PAKISTAN AT THE BORDER TO AFG THERE LIVES OSAMA BIN LADEN JUST LET HIM GIVE YOU A HINT, MAYBE SOMETHING LIKE THIS :INVITES THESE SO CALLED LEADERS ON A DINNER AND LOCK THEM UP IN A ROOM FULL OF BOMBS AND LET THEM PAY FOR THEIR GREEDS, YOU MIGHT ALSO WANT TO INCLUDE THEIR KIDS BECAUSE THE SAME BLOOD FLOWS IN THEM

3, PICK USEFULL YOUTHS AS LEADERS

NOT UNTIL THESE HAPPEN NO CHANGE IS GOING TO COME TO NIGERIA WE ARE ALL JUST WASTING OUR TIME

BUT I WONDER WHERE ARE THE DAREDEVIL THIEVES WHY CANT THEY DO SOMETHING TO SOLVE THESE PROBLEMS INSTEAD OF TAKING FROM THE VERY POOR

peace

nigeria: Gaint of africa!!!!! , lord have mercy

Even FGN is tired of NEPA. . . .
. . . that was why it changed its name to PHCN.   

duh, who isn't tired of NEPA.

if you are realy tired of NEPA move to VGC or buy yourself a gas plant cos they are going to remain messed up for a long time

The best solution for this is to decentralise the generation and distribution. Every state should be given an opportunity to generate and distribute electricity on their own. The government keeps complaining about inadequate funds and the foreign reserve just keeps increasing everyday. According to what is needed to solve the power and transportation crisis that the country is facing could be solved with a chunk of that amount not even all of it and we can start saving again, For now the best advice i can give is to get an inverter or better still solar generation. Solar may be costly but if you own a large generator, owning a solar generation system would only cost about the same amount you use to run the generator for about a year or less and it requires little or no maintenance. And yes all dem corrupt pips should be killed by firing squad. If they make examples with about 5 people, the rest would take dressing.

I don't have light for upto 2hrs a day.
[b]P[/b]lease [b]H[/b]old ur [b]C[/b]andles [b]N[/b]igeria is a diaster
Please we need to privatize this $hit.
I read one time in the papers that it would be improved next 25 yrs
Voila even my gen has gone off. No petrol

keep looking. you'll find your answers when you reach the very bottom of a bottomless pit.

he he he he!!!!! . I don think sotay i don dey craze. whether you call it nepa or phcn na still the same thing; dead body change name. The problem of power in this country is one that transends just generation alone. it also includes transmission and distribution.

first of all, in my own reckoning, Nigeria needs at least 3MW in order to satisfy the consumption needs of the nation.but at the moment , we are generating less than 2MW in all entirety, for over 100milliion people to share.
then there is also the proiblem of load forecasting which is the most important ingredient in any power system planning process. this means that if youi are to supply 5MW to a geographical area like Rumuokoro in port harcourt, then as a engineer, you also have to consider the fact that within the next few years, the population of that area will increase and as such, should make arrangements to increase not only the amount of power generated, but also the load distribition within the area.

i can tell you that in the area where i live,our transformer has packed up nothing less than 10 times this year; with enough low voltage in between times.

As for me, i would suggest that the entire power industry should be restructured. from the Generation, to the Transmission, to the Distribution phase.

One way of doing this is for the federal govt to allow private firms to handle each of these phases indepently.
For the generation phase, we already have Hydro and gasturbines. but you see, due to the fact that the gas turbine produces alot of wastes at high temperatures,whiuch are also hamful to our environment, it leads to reduced effencies.

in my opinion, the energy that is waste should be channelled to another turbine; e.g a steam turbine, which ios less effecient in terms of amount of energy generated, but when added to that generated to from the gas turbine will go a long way in solving alot of the generation problems. besides, the waste product is steam and in extreme cases, condensed steam I.e water.

just teh other day i was so pisse off becos we had not seen light in over a week, and there was no water in our tank. i actually started considering the use of solar panels to our very basic needs like; solar pumps for water, phv's for lights, fans, and even the refigerator. but alas the cost of installing such panels are too high for the average nigerian to afford.

as for nuclear, i do not stand with the idea that nigeria needs nuclear energy. why?
becos
1) It is tooooiooo damn expensive
2) knowing us for our efficacy in being grossly inefficient, and our lack of maintenance culture, a nuclear fission is all we need to become non-existent or the second chenoble.
Nuclear reactor is not for me.

if the generation phase can be propoerly handled, then i do'nt think the transmission and the distribution phases should be a problem with the right people in place.

For heavens sake, we have power system engineers and professors in power system analysis . yet we still find ourselves walking on troubled waters. i would really llike to be one those few people who can provide a solution to the nations power proiblems i>e if given the oppourtunity.

he he he he!!!!! . I don think sotay i don dey craze. whether you call it nepa or phcn na still the same thing; dead body change name. The problem of power in this country is one that transends just generation alone. it also includes transmission and distribution.

first of all, in my own reckoning, Nigeria needs at least 3MW in order to satisfy the consumption needs of the nation.but at the moment , we are generating less than 2MW in all entirety, for over 100million people to share.
then there is also the problem of load forecasting which is the most important ingredient in any power system planning process. this means that if you are to supply 5MW to a geographical area like Rumuokoro in port Harcourt, then as a engineer, you also have to consider the fact that within the next few years, the population of that area will increase and as such, should make arrangements to increase not only the amount of power generated, but also the load distribution within the area.

i can tell you that in the area where i live,our transformer has packed up nothing less than 10 times this year; with enough low voltage in between times.

As for me, i would suggest that the entire power industry should be restructured. from the Generation, to the Transmission, to the Distribution phase.

One way of doing this is for the federal govt to allow private firms to handle each of these phases indepently.
For the generation phase, we already have Hydro and gasturbines. but you see, due to the fact that the gas turbine produces a lot of wastes at high temperatures,which are also harmful to our environment, it leads to reduced effeciencies.

in my opinion, the energy that is waste should be channelled  to another turbine; e.g a steam turbine, which is less efficient in terms of amount of energy generated, but when added to that generated to from the gas turbine will go a long way in solving a lot of the generation problems. besides, the waste product is steam and in extreme cases, condensed steam I.e water.

just the other day i was so pisse off becos we had not seen light in over a week, and there was no water in our tank. i actually started considering the use of solar panels to our very basic needs like; solar pumps for water, phv's for lights, fans, and even the refrigerator. but alas the cost of installing such panels are too high for the average Nigerian to afford.

as for nuclear, i do not stand with the idea that Nigeria needs nuclear energy. why?
becos
1) It is tooooiooo damn expensive
2) knowing us for our efficacy in being grossly inefficient, and our lack of maintenance culture, a nuclear fission is all we need to become non-existent or the second Chernobyl.
Nuclear reactor is not for me.

if the generation phase can be properly handled, then i don't think the transmission and the distribution phases should be a problem with the right people in place.

For heavens sake, we have power system engineers and professors in power system analysis . yet we still find ourselves walking on troubled waters. i would really like to be one those few people who can provide a solution to the nations power problems i.e if given the opportunity.
WE NEED THE RIGHT PEOPLE IN THE RIGHT PLACES TO DO THE RIGHT THINGS.

spora:

Even FGN is tired of NEPA. . . .
. . . that was why it changed its name to PHCN.

u don craze.



people are benefitting from the anomaly

How come PHCN themselves use generating sets in their offices

Uzzyan:

How come PHCN themselves use generating sets in their offices

This is by far the funniest revelation of the year 2007 if it be true, LMAO!!!!

Abeg, please tell them O! (PHCN). What's it with electricity shortage in the year 2008?

I believe corruption should be made a capital offense punishable by instant mob justice on the spot. Its high time we all rise up against PHCN, they don't give us light yet they carry their ladder all over the place seeking bribes from innocent citizens, can you imagine paying PHCN bills for January before 10th of the month! Is it now prepaid like GSM?

Lets collect signatures showing our grievances on this forum and forward to the National Assembly.

I still can't tell why Nigerians hate private solar power so much that they have refused to acquire it for whatever reason in the world.

Solar is very expensive to implement even on a small scale, I believe we should try wind power, its cheap uses no fuel & no resource control wahala .

Denmark's wind generation provides about 20% of total electricity production in the country, with many offshore windfarms. Denmark plans to increase wind energy's contribution to as much as half of its electrical supply. Our Magicians (politicians) only fund power projects that are capital intensive that will line their pockets, they never consider other alternatives like wind power.

I believe many unemployed graduates on this forum could look into one of these designs and start building wind generators and profit from it

See:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wind_power
http://www.instructables.com/id/DIY-1000-watt-wind-turbine/
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2006/01/diy_wind_power.php
http://www.windstuff.org/