‘Nigeria’s power sector still has many obstacles to overcome’

Ade Yesufu is the Commercial Director, Future Energy Nigeria. In this interview, he speaks on Nigeria’s power sector, the challenges bedeviling it and its attractiveness to investors.

How will you rate the current government in terms of the power sector performance? 
The Federal Government’s road map for solving the country’s power crisis is to attain incremental power wherever it can be found, thus achieving steady power and ensuring uninterrupted power supply.

The power sector recovery programme is an example of one of government’s initiatives to improve the financial capacity of the Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading Limited (NBET) and improve the viability of the distribution companies in the country.

Do you think the grid approach to Nigeria’s power sector challenges is the best the country can leverage?
Increasingly, the energy sector on the continent is looking towards smaller grids and off grid developments in combination with renewable energy to increase the rate of electrification, especially for smaller, remote communities, and this is also where the private sector seems to be interested in investing.

With the power sector being at a commercial loss, the industry still has many obstacles to overcome to reach financial viability, and one of the obstacles is closing the metering gap. I would say it is currently the most critical sector in need of financial investment, with the renewable energy industry gaining traction towards international investment and its returns on investment.

What, in your view, is the major challenge facing Nigeria’s power sector, and how do you reconcile the state of the sector amid huge gas reserves?
Nigeria’s energy potential and its challenges are well known and reported on. The country is endowed with large oil, gas, hydro and solar resources, and it has the potential to generate 12,522 megawatts (MW) of electric power from existing plants. However, most days only about 4,000MW is generated and 20 million households are still without power while the current rural access rate is 36 per cent.

At Future Energy Nigeria this year, we have sourced inspiring success stories and case studies from the industry to look at how companies themselves can install capacity, specifically for the rural communities through off-grid and renewables options. During the new and free to attend Generation Knowledge Hub, speakers will focus on off-grid projects which can avoid lengthy approvals and complex funding models. We also focus on accelerating rural access through renewable energy.

The second day of the Generation Knowledge Hub will look at the advancing Gas-to-Power projects and analysing how Nigeria perceives thermal generation. The burning question whether Gas-to-Power can complement renewables will also be discussed.

What prompted the Future Energy Nigeria initiative?
Actually we are celebrating our 15th year of bringing together the stakeholders in the energy industry in Nigeria. Many power pros will remember the West African Power Industry Convention or WAPIC – we rebranded this event as Future Energy Nigeria a couple of years ago.

We are very proud of how the event has continued to flourish, facilitating industry discussions, trade and knowledge sharing and training in the region. This is thanks to the sustained and enormous support and valued input from the industry. Future Energy Nigeria, or WAPIC, has always been an event by and for the industry with high-level engagement across the markets and very practical technical seminars with valuable take-home knowledge to implement at utilities and large power-using industries. Local and international industry suppliers of new technology and services are also able to share their new innovations.

This year, we have two country pavilions, from South Africa, and we welcome back a big Indian country pavilion hosted by the Indian Chamber of Commerce, with almost 50 suppliers of specialised technology and services for the energy sector. It is clear that Nigeria is seen as a trading partner and business destination with great potential.

 

Source: Guardian