Power: NERC proposes micro grid scheme for manufacturers
As power outages across the country persist, the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) has recommended the micro grid scheme for manufacturers in industrial zones.
A micro grid is a small-scale power grid which can operate independently or in combination with an area’s main electrical grid.
A micro grid has the capacity to supply electricity to businesses in a cluster while also affording them the opportunity to sell some energy to others.
Sam Amadi, chairman/chief executive officer, NERC, gave this recommendation during an interactive session between him and members of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) on the dwindling state of power supply to industrial zones recently in Lagos.
“Nigeria can benefit from innovations across the world in the form of micro grid,” Amadi said.
“We can have micro grid for industrial clusters. Manufacturers can come together and form a business platform. They can do some mega watts, dedicate that to a cluster through a distribution company (disco) and sell power to the promoters,” Amadi explained.
According to Amadi, the NERC would encourage the Federal Government to use embedded power to create micro grids, saying that the country has achieved a framework that will guarantee grid expansion every two years.
Power supply has gone from bad to worse in the country as businesses spend a large chunk of their income on alternative sources of power on gas, diesel and fuel. According to a 2014 survey carried out by MAN, manufacturers in the country spend N73.12 million monthly on alternative sources of power, as energy spend occupies 40 percent of their production costs.
The situation has forced manufacturers to resuscitate an independent power project (IPP) which it abandoned a couple of years ago.
“MAN incorporated a company for that process some time ago. But we were advised that power was going to improve, so we ended the project,” said Frank Udemba Jacobs, president, MAN, during an interactive session with journalists in Lagos.
“Right now, we are resuscitating the project and very soon we will sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with foreign companies that will help in building it,” Jacobs further said, adding that the IPP will be mostly for manufacturers’ clusters.
Jacobs disclosed that the body is looking at getting between 50 and 100 mega watts from the prospective IPP project.
Manufacturers in the country also say electricity managers should patronise local meter makers, rather than resort to import of the facilities that are already produced locally.
Real Sector Watch recently visited Momas Electricity Meters Manufacturing Company Limited (Memmcol), where it was evident that local firms can supply sufficient number of meters that can serve Nigerian electricity consumers.
“I have been impressed by the level of technology on display here,” Rasheed Olaoluwa, CEO, BoI, who led the delegation, said after the visit to the firm recently.
“For me, it is an industrial policy. We do not need to import these things. This is one of the reasons our foreign reserves have been under pressure, because we keep importing what we produce locally,” Olaoluwa said.
Reginald Odia, chairman of the Electronics/Electrical Group of MAN, advised meter makers to register with the manufacturers’ association to give credibility to their products.
ODINAKA ANUDU