Nigeria Power Problem - Why Energy Conservation Is A Must

The ability to understand a problem is key if any meaningful solution is being expected.

That the state of power supply in Nigeria is low is no news, what is news however is that in spite of money and energy expended thus far in trying to solve this problem the most basic and yet effective approach is being over looked.

To begin with we are energy wasters in Nigeria.

The FG policy on power seems to be focusing on generating more electricity, throwing up figures and cost implications, comparing what Nigeria produces to what South Africa produces etc.

Generating more electricity is a good thing if it will solve the power problem but in reality not only is this approach expensive it is also sheer promise considering the ability to deliver.

Without being technical or playing politics with this very important issue I will attempt to explain using the simplest of terms using an example that we are all familiar with - our home.

A typical home will be used to drive home the message that energy conservation is key, it can't get simpler than this.

We shall base our example on just 10 bulbs (common 60W type) and energy cost of N4.00 per KWh of electricity.

This home with 10 bulbs for just 8 hours a day will consume the following

Daily - 10 (60W bulbs) x 8 (hrs) = 4800W
Monthly - 10 (60W bulbs) x 8 (hrs) x 30 (days) = 144000W
Yearly - 10 (60W bulbs) x 8 (hrs) x 30 (days) x 12 (months) = 1,728,000W

If 1KW of electricity cost N4.00 per hour then in one year this household would have spent

N4.00 x 1728KW = N6,912.00

Now assuming this same household decided to replace the 10 bulbs with energy saving bulbs rated at 10W (they are bright, never mind the low wattage, they are based on energy saving technology).

Daily - 10 (10W bulbs) x 8 (hrs) = 800W
Monthly - 10 (10W bulbs) x 8 (hrs) x 30 (days) = 24000W
Yearly - 10 (10W bulbs) x 8 (hrs) x 30 (days) x 12 (months) = 288,000W

If 1KW of electricity cost N4.00 per hour then in one year this household would have spent

N4.00 x 288KW = N1,152.00

You may say this is just a single household, no big deal, just wait until we get more practical.

Assuming we have just 40 million households connected to PHCN here is what really concerns the government now as regards electricity generation

For the typical home using the 60W bulbs PHCN will have to generate

1,728,000W x 40,000,000 = 69,120,000,000,000W

And Nigerians would have spent

69,120,000,000KW x N4.00 = N276,480,000,000.00 just to light 10 bulbs for 8 hrs a day.

For the typical home using the 10W bulbs PHCN will have to generate

288,000W x 40,000,000 = 11,520,000,000,000W

And Nigerians would have spent

11,520,000,000KW x N4.00 = N46,080,000,000.00 just to light 10 bulbs for 8 hrs a day.

Now, which makes sense, to spend N276 Billion a year or to spend N46 Billion for the same amount of energy?

The idea of reducing our energy needs is simple and yet workable and effective. The cost savings are there for all to see and feel. This is not rocket science, it is common sense but again I cannot assume that I know why the relevant agencies and powers that be are not looking at this very efficient alternative or strategy for now.

To further drive home this point I have been consistently receiving energy bills for less than N500.00 per month (including the compulsory N130.00) for a long time now to the extent that on more than 2 occasions PHCN officials suggested that my meter may be faulty (even when they come to take readings every month). We all know how PHCN rate homes in Nigeria, Mr A has an AC therefore his bill cannot be less than N3,000.00 a month without knowing if the AC has been bad for ages.

After explaining to them why my energy consumption has crashed and that I never run out of power supply because I have an inverter backup system that takes over when regular power fails they want me to help build inverter systems for them and even promise to change their own bulbs.

I have a small 950VA generator (comes up maybe once in a week or once in 2 weeks to charge my battery bank and that is if the power outage is long).

For about 3 years now I don't even have a standby generator in my office and yet I hardly ever run out of power supply because I choose appliances to use very carefully.

Put differently, in Nigeria today you can crash your energy needs (and ultimately the bills) and enjoy steady power supply without depending on the generator.


Bigger is not always better so the government should consider a serious energy conservation policy while planning to guarantee steady power supply. Trying to match what South Africa currently produces is an effort in futility since our needs and populations are not the same.

A strong policy on the power requirements for appliances getting into Nigeria is needed. Why would Nigeria be a dumping ground for CRT monitors (250W average) where LCD monitors (40W average) are available and are getting cheaper by the day?

Information Technology is nothing without Power as computers don't run on urine.

Ghana is doing well in trying to retrieve the regular 60W bulbs from its citizens while replacing them with 4 nos 15W energy saving bulbs because it is cheaper for the government to do so than for the government to generate more electricity to meet with the current demands.

In 2009 it will be illegal for anyone to use the regular 60W bulb type in Australia as energy efficient alternatives are available.

I do not see any reason why PHCN will not increase the tarrif of those that waste energy in Nigeria. Some homes have their security bulbs on 100% of the time and only get to touch the switch when they need to change the bulbs. There should be a monitoring unit that should sanction homes like these as we cannot be talking about power problem and at the same time wasting power.

While I agree that Nigeria has a lot of basic power problems to tackle it is however not enough excuse for us not to be thinking about saving the environment (since we are part of the world anyway) and seriously looking into renewable energy.

I do not see any reason why the government will not subsidize the cost of solar panels and wind turbines for those that may want to generate their own electricity just as it is done in some developed nations.

I do not see any reason why the government cannot setup serious research institutes that would look for ways to develop solar panels and wind turbines in Nigeria.

There are a lot of things I do not see the reasons why they are happening but I do see a nation blessed with abundant natural resources that if well tapped into would transform the lives of millions of its citizens while propelling the nation forward towards attaining most if not all its set goals in the VISION 2020 AGENDA.

Looks good on paper!

Did you and mrpataki plan this together?

Anyways, see here also: https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria/topic-93724.0.html

@almondjoy,

People are already doing it and it is working, it is not a hypothesis, it is something that people see the results immediately.

@Purist,

I did not plan anything with that boy. He is basically asking a question and it is obvious he wants to learn something, not that he is making any reasonable contribution.

By the way the people talking about needing N3Trillion are not serious. Do they know what energy conservation will do to our energy needs as a whole not to talk about what it talks to take care of that?

Purist:

Did you and mrpataki plan this together?

Anyways, see here also: https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria/topic-93724.0.html

I did not plan anything with him. If you take a close look at the time each of the postings were created, you do know who started this discussion.

I guess messages from the inbox are no longer forthcoming and as well from the private forum.

Good that he has started looking inwards.

I am sure the 2 threads have different titles with completely different contents.

One was asking a question and the other was making a suggestion on how to tackle our power problem.

Put differently, the 2 posts are miles apart.

Good Idea but I have 5 AC and I cant sleep in these suffocating heat!

I have my washing machine plus dish washer as they made life easy.

so what do you say?

@ afam very true sah.

babasin:

Good Idea but I have 5 AC and I can't sleep in these suffocating heat!

I have my washing machine plus dish washer as they made life easy.

so what do you say?

Apart from plasma TVs that are yet to attain reasonable power requirement in this age of white goods basically every single appliance out there has an energy efficient alternative.

ACs based on smart microprocessors or Digital Signal Processing (DSP) based technologies abound, they take a fraction of what the regular ACs take to deliver the same power and more efficiently too.

Why would someone be using an appliance that takes say 400W per hour when an alternative appliance can take just 80W and yet deliver the same service?

Even the developed world keeps talking about reducing energy needs and here we are in Nigeria talking about generating more energy to satisfy our already high (and sometimes unreasonable energy demands).

how about the govt stops the importation/production of the 60w bulbs. If they are not available we cannot use them.

how about the govt stops the importation/production of the 60w bulbs. If they are not available we cannot use them.

Good Idea, but they will need to provide funds at good rate for such companies to covert from 60W to lower wattage.

we should not be importing bulb anyway, but you never know

angel101:

how about the govt stops the importation/production of the 60w bulbs. If they are not available we cannot use them.

This will automatically reduce the current energy need by up to 50% considering the fact that lighting constitute the greatest percentage of energy needs across the board from poor people to rich people.

I have done energy efficiency programs for homes and offices with more than 30 bulbs each and some of them have the 100W not even the 60W so you can imagine the amount of energy being wasted.

Importation of old fridges/freezers should be stopped, I have seen brand new freezers rated just 70W.

What does it take to manufacture the energy saving bulbs? Nothing much but again those that should be focusing on such issues are busy scrambling for the so called national cake.

Even in the area of IT all regular CRT based monitors should be replaced with their flat screen LCD types.

NGOs and Charity organisations that keep donating these power hungry machines should be told to look for energy efficient alternatives or forget about the donations because IT is nothing with out power and power is not cheap.

Afam good one there
I give you three Gbosas
Being in Alaba market or Nigeria does not make somone a fool like some dudes ove here think

Some houses here in naija even use 120 or 200 volts bubl.

THIS IS THE TYPE OF PROBLEM WE WILL HAVE WHEN WE CAN NOT EVEN ASSEMBLE SOME BASIC AMENITIES IN NIGERIA .

THINGS LIKE TELEVISION, RADIOS, DVDS, VCDS, ETC AND WHY WILL OUR COUNTRY NOT BE A DUMPING GROUNG FOR OUT OF DATE AND SECOND HAND BADLY RATED GOODS, WELL TO START WITH LET ALLTHIS SO CALLED PSP START BY TRYING TO CONSERVE POWER FOR US LIKE AFAM NOTED EARLIER AND THEN I THINK THEY SHOULD ALSO TRY IN THE AREA OF SENSITISATION AND LET THE PPL KNOW WHAT THEY STAND TO BENEFIT FROM ISSUES LIKE THIS ENERGY CONSERVATION AND AT THE SAME TIME MAKE THEM UNDERSTAND THAT IT WILL SAVE THEM MORE MONEY. PHCN SHOULD BE THE ARROW HEAD OF THE SENSITISATION PROG. SO OUR PPL WILL TAKE IT SERIOUS LET THEM KNOW HOW MUCH GOOD IT IS GOING TO DO US.

BUT WORSE STILL WILL ALL THE WOLFS AND HAYENA YARADUA IS SURROUNDED WITH WILL NEVER LET SUCH A CREATVE IDEA SAIL THROUGH. CAUSE ALREADY THEY ARE PROJECTING TRILLIONS AGAIN MAY GOD SAVE NIGERIA

I LOVE MY COUNTRY NIGERIA

@poster

i can't agree with you any less my man. but i think your calculations need to include the fact that the energy saving bulbs cost about 4times more than the 'non-energy' saving bulbs on the average. that way a more realistic savings figure will be obtained.

ojimbo IV:

@poster

i can't agree with you any less my man. but i think your calculations need to include the fact that the energy saving bulbs cost about 4times more than the 'non-energy' saving bulbs on the average. that way a more realistic savings figure will be obtained.

I quite agree with your comment.

I always advice people to buy the cheapest energy saving bulbs around because I have bought the so called original at N800.00 and some went bad under 6 months whereas some so called inferior ones as low as N150.00 have been working for over 2 years now.

The cost saving is also easy to see.

Using the 10 bulbs example a family that gets the cheaper energy saving bulbs would only spend about N1,500.00 and still achieve less than N1,200.00 a year (recurring) energy bills where as a family that maintains the status quo will be spending over N6,900.00 per year for the same number of bulbs in the house.

@Afam,

This is what we have been asking from you all along on this forum. We have always requested that you try and deal with issues, present an original thought and above all stay clear of personality conflicts. In my honest opinion, this is the first time you will ever write anything on this forum that provides some food for thought.

While the write up is a good attempt at discussing issue and I believe the thought is original with you, it appears you still have some work to do with the personality thingy. It is very rude to refer to mrpataki as "that boy". It potrays an air of superiority complex or just plain lack of manners. You need to work on that area.

That being said, I will definitely follow this topic and make contributions as the issues may lean towards areas that I am more conversant with. But in all, energy conservation is a great idea and we have to cut costs to the barest minimum.

I'll be back to discuss this further.

@Tayo-D,

I only didn't want to pollute this thread otherwise I would have used worse words to describe him. I have been insulted on many occasions by him simply because I have opinions that he does not agree with.

Make no mistake about it, I do not insult people but any insult will be responded to in kind and there is no limit to posts that I will respond to such insults.

So, face the topic and leave him alone to answer for himself because he knows what he did.

i smell V for Vendetta here.

anyway, the savings estimate from what i understand is just for light bulbs, the possibilities seem to be endless in this regard. perhaps them skivers in the house of reps rather than chase each other about settling scores should consider these issues and possibly pass them into law.

Actually, I didn't read the content of this thread earlier. . . only saw the title and responded.

After perusing Afam's article on energy conservation, I must admit that this is one very intelligent piece.

Now, that being said, I think this article should make one of our national dailies, prefarably ThisDay or Punch (since they're the most widely read). Hopefully, this will get to those in high offices and the energy/power problem will then be effectively tackled.

But till then. . .
Double thumbs up bro!

@Afam
Excellent job sir.

Personally, I think your write is most appropriate, timely, and informative.

The problem of power in naija is 2 folds, ie generation/distribution and consumption. You have successfully delt with consumption.

However, the 800 pound gorilla in the room is generation/distribution.

By most estimates, and even your own calculation, naija needs a mere 10-12 megawats of power to light up our homes. At the moment, and when all the facilities are working(not often) properly, we are only able to generate about 5 megawatts. 10 megawatts is relatively a small amount of electricity, 5 megas is even considered miniscule on an industrial scale- many companies and small cities consume more.

Electric consumption is directly related to consumer habits, and despite well established facts, changing customers market habits has never proven easy, but your article is a good start.

I kinda of find this whole thing humorous.

Its akin to a kwashiorkor laden individual saving proteins in the long run. . .

But in the long run people we are all dead.

Energy efficiency is a key objective which any nation,more so Nigeria,must strive to attain.In reality,this is somewhat stating the obvious.It is no more than saying that one,whether a nation or individual,must seek to use their resources in the most efficient of manner cutting down waste wherever possible.In this sense,I agree with Afam's post. . . . .but before Afam has a heart attack over my agreement with him,let me quickly state where I disagree with him.

He leaves the impression that energy conservation is in some sense a panacea to our electricity problem.Further,there is also the impression that we should conserve because we use too much already.This particular statement was illuminating:

Even the developed world keeps talking about reducing energy needs and here we are in Nigeria talking about generating more energy to satisfy our already high (and sometimes unreasonable energy demands).

Our energy demands are neither high or unreasonable.Some might understand the statement to mean that they are high and unreasonable in the context of our meager resources but he does criticize talking about generating more.

To understand our situation and the flaw in the above statement,I will use a simple analogy.Slamming Nigeria for its high and unreasonable energy demand is akin to attacking a hungry starving family for its high and unreasonable demand for food [/i]Sure,such a family would be better off if it conserved its little food stock as efficiently as possible,that still doesn't alter the fact that the family does lack sufficient food in the first place.

Whether a hungry family,or a man with financial difficulties or Nigeria with its energy problem.The need for conserving what little you have is obvious but that doesn't alter the underlying reality-the resources are little in the first place.

Afam dismisses the comparisons made between Nigeria's total electricity generation and South Africa and others.But such comparisons are telling and self evidently illuminating.Does the fact that South Africa,a nation of 47 million,generates at least 40,000 MW of electricity compared to Nigeria's 4,000 MW, show that S.Africa's energy demands are [i]insanely high and unreasonable or does it tell us more about the sheer paucity of our energy infrastructure? I once noted that Iraq,a war torn country of 26 million,produces and uses 5,000 MW electricity.This is more than Nigeria,a nation of 140 million.Perhaps,Iraqis should start using less electricty.

I live in the UK,a nation of 60 million,which as at 2003 was using a whopping 137000 MW of electricity.There is constant talk of energy conservation here but that should be seen in the light of abundance of energy.Sure,Nigeria should also conserve,but it is clear that we still need to generate more.

The failure of the Govt's policy in regards to power generation has nothing to do with the futility of power generation as an objective.Our Govt has failed to deliver water,health,education,security,e.t.c that doesn't mean Nigerians should forgo health,water,education and security.It simply means that we should explore alternative strategies to deliver increased power generation.Yes,we must conserve but we must also generate more power.

doyin13:

I kind of of find this whole thing humorous.

Its akin to a kwashiorkor laden individual saving proteins in the long run. . .

But in the long run people we are all dead.

I remember an anecdote about a clueless doctor.A patient told him,"Doc,I have pain in my throat whenever I swallow anything".The doctor's response was,"well,you should stop eating".This thread kind of reminds me of that.

Message to a hungry man-eat less,you eat too much sef!

Do you remember the Zimbabwean Minister who said that if more Zimbabweans died of hunger,there would less demand for food thus helping solve the food problem.He felt that the famine situation could be solved by less demand!!!

I tire for all these reverse psychology.
Anytime you cry about corruption in government someone is on hand to remind you that the failure of Nigeria is the fault of the common man.

How can you conserve what you dont have? How many families in Nigeria can boast of uninterrupted power for more than 6hrs a day? And you are asking them to conserve electricity? Nigerians pay for electricity not delivered and you say they should go buy 2watt bulbs to conserve energy?

What are they conserving the energy for anyway?

davidylan:

I tire for all these reverse psychology.
Anytime you cry about corruption in government someone is on hand to remind you that the failure of Nigeria is the fault of the common man.

How can you conserve what you don't have? How many families in Nigeria can boast of uninterrupted power for more than 6hrs a day? And you are asking them to conserve electricity? Nigerians pay for electricity not delivered and you say they should go buy 2watt bulbs to conserve energy?

What are they conserving the energy for anyway?

I was just going to say that.

The main problem with naija power shortage is generation/distribution, not consumption.

naijaking1:

The main problem with naija power shortage is generation/distribution, not consumption.

Consumption is also a major problem. . . PHCN's failure is not an excuse for not conserving electricity. Nigerians need to be educated on how to conserve the little they get.

candy:

Consumption is also a major problem. . . PHCN's failure is not an excuse for not conserving electricity. Nigerians need to be educated on how to conserve the little they get.

In theory consumption is a problem in the developed World, but how does that apply to my folks in naija wey never get power for the past 2 weeks straight?

Like someone said earlier, "you can't conserve what you don't have".

Compared to an average family in the US or UK, the naija family would be happy with few basic electric light bulbs.

I hope this discussion does not lead away from the main fact that Nigeria as a developing, industrializing, and enterprising nation needs more megawattage production than we are currently producing.

candy:

Consumption is also a major problem. . . PHCN's failure is not an excuse for not conserving electricity. Nigerians need to be educated on how to conserve the little they get.

What do you want them to conserve? Candles, kerosene and lanterns? Torchlight, batteries, diesel and petrol for their tiny generators?
I lived in Adamawa state for close to 1yr, the best we had was 2hrs of electric power every week if we were lucky. We didnt even need to conserve "electricity", NEPA did that on our behalf by ensuring all we got was tomato light. So long as it could power a few bulbs and the TV. . . we were happy.

Unfortunately, this conservation issue which is purely academical, theoritical, and not applicable to Nigeria is going to be used to divert attention from the fact, that we Nigerians as a nation are woefully incapable of generating enough power for basic living.

"You can't conserve what you don't have"

naijaking1:

Unfortunately, this conservation issue which is purely academical, theoritical, and not applicable to Nigeria is going to be used to divert attention from the fact, that we Nigerians as a nation are woefully incapable of generating enough power for basic living.

"You can't conserve what you don't have"

Like I said-------Looks good on paper!

Our Oga Suen don repeat am tire say make them PRIVATISE electrical power generation for Nigeria, and SACK, JAIL or EXECUTE all those biggi-belle thief when gofment put there to suffer Nigeria people with them dead and rotten company when no fit light ordinary candle , NEPA or PHCN.

Before the time when them privatise phone network for Nigeria, those bastard teef when dey work for NITEL them go just kak seat for them office dey teef any gofment money when touch them hand, and then come dey do yanga dey order and direct people to come line up for them dirty stinking office to use 1932 dead phone wey no dey kuku work at all. 

Now as e be say private phone company dey plenty for Nigeria, na HUNGRY dey kill all those ignorant monkey NITEL teef people now, as them nogo fit see customer for this life again, so far private phone dey easy as ABC to buy and use.   And na the same hungry go kill all those baboon when gather themself siddon for PHCN office to dey pretend say them get work when them dey do pass that everyday teef together with lie-lie idiot promise say light go reach Nigeria for the year 2099 after we all don die and bury since.   

If gofment announce tomorow say them need volunteer people when go help them take cutlass butcher PHCN workers and managers them, me I go rush go there with my sharp cutlass to join hand demonstrate my hatred and vex for those bastard them body, and take them blood baf.