At the just concluded Future Energy Nigeria Conference and Expo, key players in the energy sector locally and internationally, came together to deliberate on the issues plaguing the sector and to also proffer possible solutions.
Speaking to the press, with issues in the Nigerian power sector such as the method of estimated billing by theDisCos which has been a source of unease for Nigerians, a lack of adequate customer enumeration exercise by these distribution companies, and ultimately the privatization of the sector, U. G Mohammed (CEO Transmission Company of Nigeria)still believes that recapitalisation is needed. He stated that “processes such as metering of power consumers that would help curb the estimated billing issue and the enumeration exercise of customers both require capital” but that is not the bone of contention as “capital moves with management, so when recapitalisation is done, it invariably means that the management of that company is changing or improving, as anybody providing the investment funds would require some shares of the management which means that the management efficiencies of the DisCos will improve”. He went on to explain that “capital is needed to fix the DisCos because it is clear that the interventions proffered by the privatization process have not provided the expected outcome”.
Speaking on the subject he further consolidated his statement by saying that “the TCN has also been recapitalized through the implementation of a $300 million World Bank Project and a $1.661 billion in investment, so if government has recapitalized transmission and the DisCos are not recapitalized by NERC, that means that all the capacities that are in transmission will not be distributed which ultimately means that it is a wasted investment”.
In terms of what the way forward as regards solving the issues of the power sector the TCN Ceo stated that “the three main players in the power sector chain which are the GenCos, Transmission companies, and the DisCos can bankrupt each other if any of them falters in the carrying out of their roles and as at today government is putting payment assurance to support the generators, government is supporting the TCN through budget and donor-funding for TCN to be afloat because the funding from the DisCos are not coming but this interventions are not going to be sustainable as government cannot keep on pumping money into the power sector because of lapses on the part of the DisCos. The only way is to have efficiency injected into the last segment of the power sector which can be done first through funding to fix the network of the DisCos, as all their networks since privatization, largely, are where they had been seen it was sold”.
To give context to the lacunas in the DisCos networks, the TCN CEO further stated that “from December 23rd to May 5th frequency control of 49.75 and 50.25 hertz was achieved at 85% of the time but from May 6th to date we are struggling to achieve 30% of that simply because the distribution network is very weak and whenever it rains, the network collapses like toilet paper, so this is not sustainable. Recapitalisation of the DisCos is required to fix the network and nobody from the DisCos have disputed the need for it”.
The event was held in Lagos, Nigeria at the Eko Hotel and Suite, Victoria Island.
