As Nigerians continue to contend with erratic power supply, the World Bank has said the country would need about $100 billion in the next 10 years to tackle the challenge which has defied all efforts by administrations since 1999.
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However, as part of efforts to address the challenge in the power sector, the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) said effective from July 1, 2022, there would be remarkable improvement in the nation's power sector as market participants have committed in contracts to ensure the generation, transmission and distribution of 5000 megawatts (mw) of electricity in the country.
Commenting on the $100 billion needed by the country over the next 10 years, World Bank's Regional Director for Infrastructure, Africa West and East of the global bank, Ashish Khanna, who spoke at a programme organised by The Electricity Hub, an organisation which provides insights on the sector, stated that a large chunk of the investment was expected to come from the private sector.
He added that Nigeria has the highest number of people without electricity worldwide, which has led to about four per cent loss of Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
Khanna said the issues of subsidy, gas-to-power as well as energy access would have to be sorted out before a headway can be achieved in the sector.
On a comparative basis, he noted that Ghana already has 85 per cent electricity access while Senegal was on its way to achieving 100 per cent access by 2025, stressing that Nigeria has all it takes to move from less than 50 per cent access to universal energy provision.
"Our estimation is that Nigeria will need at least $100 billion in the next 10 years, and it will be very difficult for government or the world Bank to plug that hole.
"And the private sector will do a lot of funding and will look out for whether the sector is financially viable. But they will ask 'if I set up a plant, will they pay for it'? Is the policy and regulatory environment for the sector certain?" he said.
According to him, if the government gets the distribution side of the industry right, the private sector would be willing to come in. However, he added that Nigerians must begin to see improvement in supply, which is important for their buy-in.
In his comments, the Minister of Power, Mr. Abubakar Aliyu, argued that the sector was now receiving more attention especially on infrastructure from generation, to transmission and distribution as well as the interfaces with gas producers.
He admitted that the sector hadn't had enough focus in the past leading to decay, but said President Muhammadu Buhari was determined to upgrade the infrastructure because the country cannot move forward without it.
Aliyu said the Siemens project was on course, stressing that it is meant to take generation to 25,000 megawatts by 2025. He assured that between September to December, a number of infrastructure will be arriving from abroad.
He disclosed that the national grid remains unstable and wouldn't take the other sources of planned energy, saying that therefore off-grid electricity was being planned in silos.
The minister further stated that the federal government was planning 14 projects which will give the country 1,000 megawatts with 10 state governors already collaborating for an additional 100 mw each to hit 2,000mw off-grid.
Declaring that Nigeria was also looking at newer sources of power like hydrogen, Aliyu explained that the current focus on solar is in line with the 30:30:30 vision to ensure that by year 3030, 30 per cent of Nigeria's total power generation will be based on renewable sources.
He said the industry was undergoing reform, which he said will take time to manifest, insisting that comparing Nigeria with other countries like Senegal was fundamentally flawed because of size and other differences. ■