Electricity
By Diana Omueza
Abuja, June 13, 2018 (NAN) Abundant Nigeria Renewal Party (ANRP), has advised the Federal Government to focus on decentralising access to electricity from the national grid by encouraging off-grid solutions and other forms of renewable energy sources.
The Party National Spokesperson, Mr Sesugh Akume gave the advice in a statement issued on Wednesday in Abuja.
Akume said that the off-grid solutions such as solar, wind, and other forms of renewable energy sources and deployment of embedded power will address power generation, transmission, and distribution within specified locations.
Akume said that investments in the national grid had not yielded value for money in decades, adding that it was best to focus on the alternative solution which was working well for other countries.
“If the sector will not be encouraged and supported, it is better to let it be than to kill it.’’
Akume said that the Minister of Power, Works, and Housing, Mr Babatunde Fashola had earlier called for ideas from the public in February on what to do with the 2,000 Megawatts of ‘stranded power’.
He decried the situation where electricity is generated but wasted because of the compromised state of national grid which lacked the capacity to transmit same to all nooks and crannies of the federation.
“Nothing emphasises the need for alternative options more than this.’’ Akume said.
He lamented that the Nigerian Customs Service (NCS) had imposed a five per cent/10 per cent import duty on solar panels necessary for deploying electricity by solar system.
Akume said that the new imposition was a disincentive to spreading electricity accessibility for Nigerians and an outright contravention and violation of the Federal Government law: CET Code 8541.4010.00.
He said that the law puts import duty on solar panels at 0% in order to encourage wider adoption of alternative and renewable sources of electricity, with focus on solar energy.
According to him, the consequence of the NCS action was that cost of solar power installations had become more expensive and difficult to access.
He said that it was stifling the operation of the industry that was supposed to provide an alternative for alleviating Nigeria’s poor electric power woes.
Akume noted that other dangers in having and executing this incoherent electricity energy policy was that it would derail Nigeria’s plan to generate 30% of electricity through renewable sources by 2030.
Akume noted that in spite public outcry and repeated calls to draw the attention of the Federal Government to the anomaly, it had remained mute and unconcerned.
“The Federal Government may be deliberately killing the solar energy sector, in order to promote the use of generator sets in spite of its high cost of fueling and maintenance, aside toxic fumes and other environmental health hazards associated with the continued usage.
“By killing the solar energy market, the Federal Government is consciously or unwittingly protecting the interests of generator-import industry. This further begs the question, whether the present government has its priorities right.’’
Akume said that the Federal Government had not been able to resolve the electricity crisis in the country and was rather making the bad situation worse through faulty policy directions, cutthroat measures, and disincentives.
He said that according to Rural Electrification Agency (REA), 100 million Nigerians, about 75 per cent of the total population were not connected to the national grid.
“Sixty three million of this population does not live within a one kilometre radius of the nearest electricity pole.
“Also According to the Power Generation Report by the Ministry of Power, Works and Housing released on 9th April 2018, eight out of Nigeria’s 27 power plants were at a time shut down due to gas line and frequency management constraints.
“These facts suffice to consider electricity policy alternatives that de-emphasise having all Nigerians on the national grid, but rather concentrate more on renewable, off-grid solutions which are easier and more flexible to deploy.
“They also serve the purpose of providing electricity and are Eco-friendly.’’ (NAN)
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Edited by Ese E. Ekama