MAN, Tower Energy to provide 24-hour power supply to Ikeja industrial cluster
In a bid to reduce high cost of energy borne by manufacturers, the Manufacturers Power Development Company has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Tower Energy Solution & Systems Limited for the supply of 24-hour electricity to Henry Carr Industrial Cluster in Ikeja and others in Lagos.
Tower Energy, a subsidiary of Tower Aluminium Group, is beginning with the supply of six megawatts (MW) and will incrementally move up to ten as time goes on. MAN Power Development Company is equally talking with Sahara Energy and solar power firms in the north to supply electricity to various industrial clusters across the country.
“One beautiful thing is that Tower is also a manufacturer. So it knows where it pinches most, and the agreement is that they will supply 24/7 power,” said Ibrahim Usman, chairman of MAN Power Development Company Limited, at the MoU signing in Lagos.
“Right now, manufacturers would rather pay a little extra and get quality power,” Usman said.
High energy cost is the biggest challenge facing Nigerian manufacturers after foreign exchange. Forty percent of manufacturers’ expenditure goes to energy in the form of generator maintenance, diesel or gas, fuelled by poor public power supply.
MAN set up a power company to liaise with private sector power suppliers that can provide quality electricity to industrial clusters.
According to Usman, there were different models for different industrial clusters.
“Each cluster has its own peculiarities. For example, this particular case works here because there is gas. We have Tower that is already producing 35MW and it is ready to deploy more on incremental basis. If we are going to the north where there is no gas, we will be talking of solar, biomass, wind or hydro. It is a case by case basis because what is happening in Lagos may not necessarily be what we need in Uyo, Aba, Kano or Kaduna,” he stated.
He explained that MAN was already discussing with the power distribution companies (discos) to ensure seamless transition on how power could be distributed.
He further said MAN had been painstaking in selecting companies it was working with, adding that the group had five other power companies on the line.
“We have the support of the government. We have been discussing intimately with the Ministry of Power. The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) gave us its full support,” Usman stated.
Also speaking Oweh O. Mba-Sam, coordinator, Manufacturers Power Development Company, said manufacturers would be sacrosanct with timing and would be expecting timelines from Tower Energy shortly.
Ramesh Biswal, group finance coordinator at Tower Aluminium, said manufacturers needed consistent power supply to add value to the economy.
Biswal said the company would deliver power to manufacturers and hoped to add more to its already acquired 35MW.
ODINAKA ANUDU