At present, Nigeria is in a terrible situation, with 60%-70% of the population living in an environment without electricity. In most rural families, there is no Unicom national grid. To this end, Nigeria’s industrial development and economic diversification goals have been delayed. Experts estimate that Nigeria’s losses due to power shortages are as high as 126 billion naira per year. Although millions of households are using their own generators, they also cause a lot of waste of resources and serious health and environmental threats, and their own generators are also inefficient.
A reliable power supply is a prerequisite for a country’s development. The Nigerian people want a safer, more reliable and economical supply of electricity for a more prosperous life. According to estimates by United States Aid for International Development experts, Nigeria currently has a power generation load of 5,000 MW and an installed capacity of 12,522 MW. This is far from meeting the huge population and economic needs of Nigeria.
Many homes and businesses have their own generators. In 2017, Nigeria spent $5 billion on its own generator fuel. However, power generation shortages are not all that a problem, and most home and business users cannot predict when the grid will be able to call.
It is clear that the power reform in Nigeria has not achieved the desired results. Power users in Nigeria have not yet been able to obtain a stable supply of electricity, and companies are sometimes shut down because they cannot afford the cost of expensive diesel generators.
According to statistics, the total power loss in all aspects of Nigerian power generation is sometimes as high as 50%. In addition, the artificial gas supply to the natural gas pipeline also caused the power supply of the power plant to be interrupted. The shortage of transmission infrastructure has also caused power losses in the transmission sector.
The Nigerian regulator, the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, confirmed that the national grid would face enormous technical problems when the transmission load reached 5000-5500 MW. Recently, the government has begun to focus on the transmission field, hoping to reduce the power loss in the transmission sector. The safety of natural gas pipelines has also received attention. But beyond that, there is more work to be done.
The government should vigorously develop renewable energy to meet the huge power needs. It is also possible to develop small grids where there is no transmission infrastructure. At the same time, the regulation of the natural gas industry will be relaxed to attract investment in the natural gas sector. Strengthen safety measures for natural gas pipelines to ensure a stable supply of natural gas. Appropriately increase the electricity bill, install a prepaid system to improve the efficiency of electricity collection, and promote the solution of liquidity problems.
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