The importance of sustainable power supply to Nigeria’s economic growth and aspirations cannot be overemphasised. And very critical to President Goodluck Jonathan’s transformation agenda are a number of initiatives that will swiftly improve the status of power supply in the country.
By all indications we are made to believe that this government desires to get the power sector right. At several fora the president has said that to improve the situation of power supply in the country is at the heart of his administration.
That Nigerians have been subjected to much suffering as a result of inadequate power supply is no longer news. But it is unjustifiable, as well as a heinous crime to speak of frequent blackouts and indeed, lengthy periods of blackouts in a nation that is literally floating on energy resources.
Nigeria has variously been described as a nation that is especially blessed with energy resources. Pundits argue that there are few countries in the world where the prospect of power generation and power delivery could be less challenging.
Furthermore, Nigeria is blessed with several water resources that could be tapped and used for hydro-electric power generation.? Although this is a capital intensive alternative it has the advantage of being able to produce unparalleled low cost electricity.
For many decades, urban and agricultural wastes have been used in several parts of the world as viable energy sources for urban and rural power generation. The problem in Nigeria has always been the viral corruption that emanates from the top, thus consuming all public institutions and compromising government’s ability to effectively achieve its desired goals.
Also, the prevailing culture of negligence and dereliction of duty, which is further exacerbated by a thriving culture of corruption, no doubt allows for a total lack of commitment to public projects that would enhance development.
There is no gainsaying the fact that there can be no meaningful economic stimulation or invigoration unless the critical issue of power generation and distribution is resolved.? One does not need to be a genius to know and understand the urgent need for great investments into power and energy production. Unfortunately, there have been misguided and misdirected efforts that ended up as colossal waste and white elephant projects. And Nigeria is a country that has suffered enough of such useless and wasteful projects.
Suffice it to say that today, hydro-electric power supplies are 20 per cent of the world’s electricity. And Canada remains the world’s largest producer of hydro- power and produces over 70 per cent of its electricity from hydroelectric sources.
In Norway it accounts for virtually all electricity productions, while Iceland produces 83 per cent of its requirements and Austria produces 67 per cent of all the electricity generated in the country from hydro.
Most developing countries in the world today are embracing hydro systems due to the elimination of the cost of fuel, with no additional economic or environmental effect. Hydroelectric plants are mostly unaffected by price fluctuations for fossil fuels such as oil, natural gas or coal, and do not require imported fuel.
Experts say that hydro-electric plants tend to have longer lives than fuel-fired generators, with some plants remaining in service for 50 to 100 years. Labour costs are also low because the plants are mostly automated and have few personnel on site during normal operation.
And reservoirs created by hydro-electric schemes often provide excellent leisure facilities for water sports and become tourist attractions in themselves. Multi-use dams for irrigation, flood control, or recreation may host a hydroelectric plant with relatively low construction cost, providing a revenue stream to offset the cost of dam.
Recently, experts in the water sector management tasked the federal government to give priority attention to the development of hydro-electricity potential of the 19 existing dams in Nigeria.
This formed one of the resolutions of the stakeholders in the just concluded presidential summit on water held in Abuja.
They appealed to states and local governments to play the needed roles in cost sharing, both in terms of up-scaling budgetary provision for the water sector and in maintaining the infrastructure in collaboration with the federal government.
Dams and reservoirs in Nigeria are used for irrigation, water supply, hydro-electric power generation or some combination. They are of particular importance in the northern part of the country where rainfall is low.
Initially, dam projects were intended originally as a water supply facility, but plans for electricity generation were added later to the projects.
The plans emerged due to security challenges and underfunding, especially in oil and gas productivity in Nigeria. Nigeria’s productivity in the hydroelectric sector has increased steadily since the 1980s, with a major boom in 2002. Reports indicate that production is around 7.5 billion kilowatt-hours per year.
Some of the dams have since been completed, but the hydropower component has not been utilised due to what many considered as beaurocratic bottleneck.
It has been difficult to get both the federal government and development partners to install turbines for the generation of electricity from the dams which has stalled the hope and aspirations of many Nigerians yearning for uninterrupted power supply.
The reasons may not be far-fetched. One of such hydro-electric power scheme is the Dadin Kowa hydro-electric power project, which is an integral part of the 2.8 billion cubic metres capacity multi-purpose dam constructed on the Gongola River within Bauchi State.
The project was expected to generate about 146 million kwh of electric energy annually, which can meet the combined energy demands of Gombe, Biu, Damaturu and Potiskum towns along with several other villages within the North-East sub-region and a neighboring cement factory.
Apart from the power to be generated, Hydro-Electric Power (HEP) has to be completed before the downstream irrigation development of 44,000 could be embarked upon, as the required water for irrigation would depend on the HEP turbine discharges.
Available information indicates that a company known as Mabon Limited had the concession for the development of the hydro-electric power plant at Dadinkowa through an open competitive bidding process, culminating in the signing of a concession agreement with the Ministry of Water Resources in 2006, with a license to generate power by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC).
After the company had provided finances for the project, spending at least N6.4billion on the Dadinkowa hydro-electric power project, an unexpected hurdle came from an unexpected quarters. The company brought in equipment vendors from abroad who had gone to survey the site, and prepared detailed cost proposals, only to be aborted due to the inability of the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) to sign a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with it. This resulted to Mabon also forfeiting a substantial sum in compensation to the frustrated suppliers.
This project was to generate up to 40megawatts during the dry season and 15-20megawatts after the rainy season, depending on the water level. This would have hugely been beneficial to the transmission company which would have been able to use this power generation to balance the system.
At a stage, the Yobe State government had agreed to partner with Mabon to the tune of 5 to 10 per cent equity share to enable the state have a stake and the leverage to monitor the project, and for the interest of the host community.
Till date, Mabon’s efforts to get the project started has been stalled due to the inability of the PHCN to sign a PPA. There are other companies like Mabon which efforts to contribute to the development of the power sector have been put in abeyance due to what many consider as the handiwork of those who want to frustrate this all important programme of President Jonathan. This is clearly not in the best interest of Nigerians and must therefore be discouraged.
?