Energy Experts Advises On Sustainable Electricity Generation

Some experts in the energy sector on Monday urged the Federal Government to work toward a sustainable power generation and distribution process.

They told newsmen in separate interviews in Lagos that government must focus on power generation, and control transmission.

The Managing Director of PowerCap Ltd, Mr Biodun Ogunleye said the projected 5,000 megawatts by Federal Government would only be realised if government showed more commitment.

Ogunleye also said that the management of energy waste through transmission and generation remained one of the surest ways to achieve the 5,000 megawatts.

“The 5,000 megawatts the government promised to achieve in December seems achievable but distribution needs to be addressed,” he said.

Mr Hafeez Ajibade, the General Secretary of the Nigerian Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (NIEEE), describe as illogical, government’s electricity generation projection, without any improvement in power supply.

Ajibade said that there was a need for government to plan its generation, distribution and transmission based on “physical reality and not on assumptions’’.

He said the projected 5,000 megawatts by December was not achievable.

According to Ajibade, government should first put in place the necessary infrastructure that will make the projected electricity generation attainable.

“Government should ensure that the intended privatisation process in the power sector is pursued to a logical conclusion,” Ajibade said.

The Chairman of the Lagos Chapter of the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria, Mr Folorunsho said that emphasis should be on how to revamp the nation’s moribund power distribution system.

“The power distribution system is in bad shape; even if PHCN provides 24-hour power supply, there will still be problems because existing infrastructure need to be replaced,” he said.

The Federal Government recently expressed confidence that it would attain its targeted 5,000 megawatts electricity generation by December.

The current total national electricity generation hovers between 3,600 megawatts and 3,800 megawatts.