The Nigerian Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (NIEEE) has called for a redesign of market rules to address issues of reliability and market imbalance in the power sector.
Its President, Felix Olu, in a communique issued at the end of the institute virtual meeting hinted that the problems in the power sector were systemic, noting that there was no strict compliance with rule-based market design with strong penalties for defaulters.
He said : “Problems within the power sector include transmission infrastructure capacity, inefficient quality service, aging equipment, lack of spare parts, dearth of technical manpower, use of radial networks as against modern network topologies, the unwillingness of DISCOs to accept loads, the private investor’s reluctance to invest in the power businesses and astronomical aggregated technical and commercial losses.
“The Electricity Act 2023 is silent on the handling of excess or insufficient power from the individual states and is not explicit on assigned roles for the TCN.
There is no certainty if deregulation of the power sector using end-to-end enterprise communication models solution (such as IoT and AI) is being considered.”
Olu explained that accurate nationwide electricity demand was yet to be determined.
He added: “NERC has not effectively enforced its statutory role of regulating DISCOs. Asset sharing may create friction between the States/Private investors and DISCOs, in view of the new provisions of the Electricity Act 2023.
“The impact of the new Presidential Power Initiative Agreement (Siemens Contract) remains uncertain, despite ongoing investments in NESI. Nigeria’s abundant gas resources have yet to be effectively and adequately harnessed to boost electricity generation and distribution, towards enhancing economic activities and national prosperity.
“There is no clearly defined robust road map for a sustainable bankable power supply program.The involvement of professional bodies in the unbundling processes and in the entire Power Sector is generally poor. The NIEEE as a professional body is politically neutral; but it is concerned with the perennial power supply problems.”
Olu assured that NIEEE was willing and ready to support the government in finding lasting solutions to the sector’s challenges.