A polytechnic lecturer, Dr. Peter Enyong, says Nigeria is losing about N65 billion annually to electricity wastages due to lapses in distribution and consumers’ nonchalance.
Enyong, a lecturer at the Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering in Auchi Polytechnic, put the annual energy losses in the country at 6,521,892,950kWh.
He disclosed this on Friday in Auchi in an inaugural lecture on: “Virtual Darkness in a Nation where Energy Resources Abound: The Lamentation of a Concerned In dweller.”
Enyong listed unmaintained fluorescent lamps/fittings, odd hours of security lighting, poorly fabricated and unmaintained machines and incorrect wiring of buildings as some of the means through which the nation was losing energy.
Others, he said, were improper fusing of distribution feeder pillars, protracted overloading of distribution transformers, absence of reactive power compensation facilities as necessary and overheated apparatus through under-voltage operation.
The lecturer, a former staff of the defunct Power Holding Company of Nigeria, put the current energy demand at 12,800.
He said maximum electricity demand in the country might hit 88,282Mw by 2020.
Enyong also said 230 generating plants and close to 1,000 substations would be required to take care of the projected 88,282Mw generated output.
According to him, the US, with a land area of 9,147,420. Sq. Km, had more than 55,000 transmission substations, meaning one transmission substation for every 166 sq. Km.
He said: “Going by this estimate with our land area of 923,768 sq. Km, we shall be talking of about one transmission substation for every 924 Sq. Km.
“The advantage of having a good number of substations in the power system lies in the realisation of short and medium transmission lines only which makes for the minimisation of transmission technical losses.”
Enyong said Nigeria’s goal of ensuring adequate, safe, reliable and affordable electricity for consumers would remain a mere national dream except the following steps were taken.
He said: “Apart from separating electricity issues from partisan politics, an effective management team must be put in place in each station of the power supply industry.
“Adequate funds should be provided to run the stations with a serious check and balance machinery must be made available.
“There is need for a proper survey of all the possible means of power generation and a grand plan of their economic exploitation for the adoption of the best generation mix.”
Enyong further called for a national re-orientation programme that will change the mindset of an average Nigerian from inclination towards wastefulness, corrupt practices and sabotage.
He said also government should muster a strong political will to pursue the overall well thought-out agenda in respect of national supply and consumption situation.
The polytechnic teacher urged government to create enabling environment for healthy competition in power industry in the bid to promote rapid development in terms of facility expansion, quality assurance and customer satisfaction.
NAN.
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