22 December 2015, Abuja – Chairman of the Nigeria Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), Dr. Sam Amadi has said that the Cwill receive the final report on a proposed framework for micro- grid power generation by industrial clusters in the country.
Amadi said at the presentation of the proposed document by the commission in Abuja, that he would present it to Fashola for the government’s inputs and consideration for implementation.He noted that the work of the committee on micro-grid which included members from the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) and NERC would enable the country plan for a sustainable micro-grid framework for its industrial clusters.
The committee was mandated to work out how to use the commission’s embedded regulation, distribution regulation and independent transmission network regulation to initiate a framework for micro-grid electricity supplies
to manufacturers and industrial hubs across the country.
Fashola had while reeling out his plan for the power sector, disclosed that the government would be willing to give priority attention to stable power supply to the country’s industrial hubs.
This he said would improve productivity and drive employment generation in line with the government’s plan to improve the country’s capacity to employ her people.
Amadi said at the presentation that he had spoken with the minister because of obvious policy issues in this report, adding that this report will further be delivered to the minister to review some of the policies that will enable sustainable micro-grid.
Similarly, MAN which disclosed that over 40 per cent of its cost on production have being incurred through electricity supply, said that it has mapped out plans to reduce it to 10 per cent through the micro-grid generation model.
MAN’s President, Udemba Jacobs told journalists at the presentation of the report that members of the association had constantly spent over N73 million monthly on power generation, which is mostly incurred from self-generation.
Jacobs expressed hopes that the government will adopt the new policy and make it functional as soon as possible.
“I am glad that the chairman has already promised that it will be delivered to the Minister of Power Works and Housing. It will really help our members and the economy at large. It is when we are producing that the economy will grow,” said Jacobs.
While presenting the report, Reginald Odia explained that the committee reviewed the laws guiding the electricity sector and the existing gaps from which it identified 28 industrial clusters that the proposed policy could now help bridge shortfalls in electricity supplies to.
He noted that the association requires about 15,000 megawatts (MW) of electricity for its operation, adding that if the new report is implemented the present 40 per cent cost of production that goes to electricity will reduce to about 10 per cent.
He noted that the reduction of cost of electricity will have the spiral effect of providing jobs and improve the quality of production.
“What we are saying is that let’s see if we can set up these mini-grids in the clusters like the Mambilla Plataeu and other new development that will require power other than the national grid,” Odia said.
“Those 28 clusters we looked at the energy mix and we find that some of the clusters will range from 5MW to 15MW. The essence is to ensure that manufacturers have quality power because even though there was increase in power recently it did not affect the MAN as the power we receive is not quality one,” he added.
- This Day
