The Senate has
mandated its Committee on Power to investigate the activities of power generation
and distribution companies with a view to finding a solution to power supply in
Nigeria.
The investigating
committee which has four weeks to submit its report to the Senate for
consideration would meet with relevant stakeholders and also hold a round table
with all the senators in attendance.
The decision by the
upper chamber to probe power generation, transmission and distribution in the
country was reached sequel to a motion considered during plenary on Tuesday.
Sponsor of the motion,
Senator Chukwuka Utazi (PDP, Enugu North) said Nigeria, with a population of
200 million and an annual growth rate of 2.6 percent per annum, is the seventh
most populous nation on earth.
According to Utazi,
the power generating or installed capacity of Nigeria in relation to its
population and Gross Domestic Product cannot place the country to compete
favourably in terms of development with other nations.
He, therefore, called
on the Federal Government to find solutions to the power deficits faced by the
country.
Citing Indonesia and
Philippines as examples, the lawmaker noted that both countries with a
population of 267 million and 107 million, respectively, have installed power
capacity of 60,000 megawatts and generating capacity of 42,465 megawatts as
well as installed capacity of 20,055 megawatts and generating capacity of
16,271 megawatts.
The lawmaker while
expressing optimism that Nigeria can set a realisable target of generating
capacity of 100,000 megawatts in the next ten years, said same can be achieved
through a mix of energy sources such as natural gas, hydro, coal, wind and
renewable energy.
He added that the
various zones in the country are naturally positioned to take advantage of the
various energy mix which would be peculiar to them, particularly solar energy.
The lawmaker further
posited that Nigeria can improve on its transmission infrastructure by
up-scaling its networks from the current 330kv and 132kv to 765kv super grid to
enable big power plants to send power through such grid over long distances.
He added that beyond
generation and transmission, Distribution Companies (DisCos) lack the financial
and technical capacities required, thereby resulting in their inability to pay
for power which Generation Companies (GenCos) deliver to the grid.
