Since the perennial power supply challenges are not looking to abate anytime soon, the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria,MAN and energy experts recently convened and strategically explored desirable solutions to accelerate energy security for manufacturers.
With the issue of energy adequacy for manufacturers which has been on the front burner for sometime, the association and stakeholders identified innovative solutions at a summit themed, “Power Supply Adequacy for Industrial Growth in Nigeria”, organized by the Manufacturers Power Development Company Limited.
At the summit, President of MAN, Francis Meshioye noted that the event marks a significant milestone in the collective quest for energy security and sustainable manufacturing practices, emphasizing the commitment of the association to explore collaborative strategies that will enable manufacturers to reduce energy costs, transition to sustainable energy sources and comply with Environmental, Social and Governance, ESG standards.
Meshioye recognized that energy security is not only a business imperative but also a national priority, calling for the support for the manufacturing sector which accounts for a significant share of Nigeria’s GDP, and its growth which is critical to economic development.
He reeled out some of the challenges bedeviling the association to include unreliable power supply, high energy costs and environmental concerns.
“But we also see opportunities for innovation, job creation and sustainable growth.”
Stakeholders were able to point out actionable solutions to address the challenges faced by manufacturers, explored cutting-edge technologies, policy frameworks and financing models that could support the transition to sustainable energy.
Mathew Edevbie, Group Managing Director, Income Electrix Limited, spoke on challenges, prospects and strategies for sustainable energy as part of ensuring energy security for manufacturers in Nigeria; the holistic Energy cost reduction approach.
Edevbie said Nigeria currently faces a huge electricity supply deficit, which manifests in high energy demand, huge supply-demand gap, low grid capacity, adding that with the cost of infrastructure development, the supply demand gap is unlikely to be resolved soon.
He noted that a limited supply from the electric grid has forced industries to self-generate electricity, lamenting that reliability, availability and cost of electricity to industries remain the bane of industrialisation in Nigeria.
He disclosed that Nigeria incurs N26 billion in economic losses due to electricity shortages.
Edevbie was, however, optimistic that despite the challenges plaguing the power sector and industries in Nigeria, there exists prospects and opportunities by utilizing a holistic approach to improving reliability, availability and reducing our total energy spend.
According to him, the approaches include optimization of generation sources, efficient utilization of power and focusing on the use of low energy consuming products.
Cruise Ni, Director of Huawei Digital Power, Nigeria, spoke on Technology Innovation for steady power supply in Nigeria: Optimizing Africa economic potential, emphasizing on innovation and alternative energy supply to
reduce manufacturing energy cost.
Ni noted that in the past five years the diesel cost, average grid tariff, prices of batteries and solar panels went high, as such there was need for improvement in innovation and technology to meet the rising demand.
Managing Director and CEO, Association of Nigerian Electricity Distribution, ANED, Sunday Oduntan noted that the country’s power infrastructure was outdated, under maintained and insufficient to meet the growing need.
Oduntan said transmission and distribution networks suffer from technical inefficiencies resulting from significant energy losses.
He proffered investment in grid infrastructure to modern transmission and distribution networks to reduce losses and increase capacity in off grid solutions like mini-grid and solar homes in rural and underserved areas.
Odutan viewed that the consumers, large population, manufacturers and industrial areas must have access. He added that power has to be affordable for all. He emphasized the need to power the manufacturing sector, noting that investment is required to make power available to all..
Mrs. Jennifer Adighije, MD/ CEO Niger Delta Power Holding Company Plc.
explained that access to electricity is inevitable for industrialization, promising to support businesses for off grid solutions.
Sanusi Garba, Chairman /CEO, Nigeria Energy Regulatory Commission spoke on the Opportunities and challenges of the new electricity Act for reliable power in Nigeria industrial hubs and free trade zones.
He said powering industry policies that deliberately seek to improve power supply to industrial clusters is required, noting that it could be achieved through embedded generation targeting industrial parks; distribution hub franchising; ring fencing arrangement; Independent electricity distribution network.
He however said all these could only be sustainable if the pricing is right as litigation against right pricing will only worsen supply.
He noted that legislation and regulation are essential but the key to unlocking a successful electricity market and economic prosperity is in our hands.
Dr. Joy Ogaji, Managing Director, Association of Gencos, spoke on Ramping up national power generation with new investments to enhance power supply adequacy for the fast growing industrial sector.
On power and payment flow framework , Ogaji said Power is a strategic Infrastructure for moving the economy forward and access is critical to Industries and manufacturers.
She viewed that decisions about Investments in power generating capacity depend on expected returns and costs, the illiquid state of the NESI in addition to the fact that all plants are performing below optimum does not encourage the 6000MW discourse.
She said capacity utilization in any market, is often used as a measure of productive efficiency.
“Demand drives production, even as power generation is instantaneous and cannot be stored”, she added that maximising capacity utilization, will lead to lowered power costs.
“With a current installed capacity of about 14,000 megawatts, and utilization ranging between 3500 to maximum 4000, over 11 years post privatisation, the government’s aim to boost electricity access from 45% to 90% by 2030 is not feasible without a benchmarkable framework backed by credible data.”
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