Mr Oyebode Fadipe, AEDC General Manager, Communication, made this known in a statement in Abuja on Saturday.

“Management of AEDC has explained the reason for the load shedding being experienced by its customers in some parts of the FCT.’’

Fadipe said the load shedding was occasioned by a fault on one of the 60 Mega Volt Ampere (MVA) transformers at the TCN 2 x 60MVA station at Kubwa, Abuja

He listed the areas affected to include Kubwa, Dei Dei, Lower Usman Dam, Bwari, Dutse, Dawaki, 3rd Avenue, 69 Road, 64 Road, 62 Road, Gwarinpa, Sunshine Estate, Map Global Estate, and I pent Estate.

Others according to him are Queens Estate. Kafe Gardens 1, 2 and 3. Efab Estate, Home Security Estate, Fine Estate, Macopoli, Marine, Adkan, Verozone, Justice, Davis and Police Estates.

Fadipe said that the load shedding had the potential of disrupting the socio-economic activities of its customers as well as its own obligations toward the market,

He, however, said that AEDC and TCN were working on how to speedily resolve the issue, especially because of the onset of the dry season, which it said would have serious effects on the comfort of its customers.

“AEDC therefore, appeals to all affected customers to please bear with it as it is working assiduously with TCN to ensure the restoration of normal power supply to the affected customers.

Fadipe said that the load shedding had the potential of disrupting the socio-economic activities of its customers as well as its own obligations toward the market.

Mrs Ndidi Mbah, TCN’s General Manager (Public Affairs) told our reporter that TCN engineers were working round the clock to fix it.

She said that AEDC had been informed and both companies were working together to resolve the issue.

Mbah said TCN had also made arrangements to bring in a new transformer from Lagos.

According to her, the process to bring in a new transformer has been delayed by some clearing issues at the Lagos Port.

“However, the issue has been sorted out as the transformer will leave next week and will take about three days to get to the sub-station and will take about three weeks to be installed.

“TCN is doing this to increase supply of power to the affected areas as the company has the interest of its customers at heart.

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This was announced by Mrs Ndidi Mbah, TCN’s General Manager (Public Affairs), in Abuja on Thursday.

Mbah said the national peak was efficiently transmitted through the nation’s transmission grid at a frequency of 50.26Hz by 8.15pm on the Oct. 28.

HZ means the frequency rate at which current changes direction per second.

This is measured in hertz(Hz).

“The new peak surpasses the 5,420.30MW achieved on Aug. 18 by 39.20MW.

“The Acting Managing Director, Mr Sule Ahmed Abdulaziz, commended all the players in the power sector value chain as a result of the feat.

“He attributed the gradual but steady improvement in the quantum of power delivery to collaboration by the sector players, as well as the unbridled effort by the Federal Government, through the Ministry of Power, in setting the right environment for seamless operations.”

Abdulaziz expressed optimism that stakeholders in the sector would continue to work together towards ensuring the continued increase in the quantum of power available to consumers nationwide.

He said that TCN was committed to working with the generation and distribution companies to ensure a sustained improvement in the sector for the benefit of the nation.

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Mamman made this known on Wednesday during the 2021 budget defence before the House of Representatives Committee on Power in Abuja.

He also said that the distribution system had the capacity to evacuate 5,500mw of power having grown from 4,500mw in 2015.

“Under the able leadership of President Muhammadu Buhari, the country’s grid power capacity has increased significantly from the time this administration took over in 2015 to date.

“During the period between 2015 to date, the sector has recorded successes and has faced challenges.

“In order to deliver this administration’s promise of providing stable and affordable power to Nigerians, a way forward was defined and supported by Mr President’s political will,” he said.

However, committee expressed displeasure with the minister for not ensuring sanctions for Distribution Companies (DisCos) for alleged “gross irresponsibility and wickedness in the execution of their contract”.

The Chairman of the committee, Alliyu Magaji (APC-Jigawa), asked the minister to met out stiffer sanctions to the DisCos, to enable them to sit up and provide the desired services to Nigerian people.

Magaji said that if the minister ensured the sanction of the DisCos, he would become the darling of lawmakers and the entire Nigerians.

The chairman informed the minister that as far as the House was concerned, the Nigeria Bulk Electricity Trading Plc (NBET) was still under the purview of his committee.

The rep said that the purported transfer of the parastatal to the Ministry of Finance was unacceptable to the legislators.

Members of the committee raised concern about power supply to their various constituencies, urging the minister to ensure supply.

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Minister of Power, Mr Sale Mamman, made this known when he received the National Executive Members of the NSE in his office.

This is contained in a statement issued by Mr Aaron Artimas, Special Adviser on Media and Communications to the Minister,

Mamman called on Nigerian engineers to make innovations or designs for various engineering activities as a way of establishing their own standard.

”Nigeria cannot continue to rely on foreign designs because the country’s engineers have not established their own,” he said.

The minister lamed efficient transmission and distribution of electricity in the country on obsolete equipment.

Earlier, the President of the NSE, Mr Babagana Mohammed said that in view of the lingering epileptic power supply in the country, the society has constituted an Ad Hoc committee.

Mohammed said that the committee would carry out a holistic study and assessment of the problems associated with generation, transmission and distribution of power in Nigeria.

He said that the initiative was meant to compliment the efforts of government to truthfully revitalize the energy sector.

Mohammed said that the NSE and the ministry of power have a collective duty and responsibility to provide lasting solutions to power supply problem in Nigeria.

He said that the society has offered five years scholarships to some secondary school students.

Our correspondent reports that the Federal Government plans to inject N198.27 billion on various capital projects in the power sector across Nigeria in 2021.

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Onu stated this at a meeting tagged ‘Unity, Peace and Progress’ meeting held on Thursday in Abakaliki.

The minister said that APC in the state would hoist its flag at the Ebonyi Government House in 2023 and urged party faithful to unite to achieve a common destiny.

Onu noted that the party could surmount any challenge if united by a common bond and thanked leaders of the party for burying their differences in the interest of the party.

“If we work together as a party there is no mountain we cannot climb and I want to assure you that it is very important that we do so.

“APC will take over power in the state and we are going to hoist our party’s flag in the Government House by 2023; all we need do is come together and remain united,” Onu said.

The minister said that the APC-led Federal Government under the leadership of President Muhammadu Buhari had done a lot to rewrite the country’s ugly past.

He said that road infrastructure, security, youth empowerment and job creation had received boost under the Buhari administration.

He said that South-East geopolitical zone had benefitted from the President’s developmental strides and called on party faithful in Ebonyi and the zone to continue their support for the president.

Onu explained that the Enugu/Onitsha, Enugu/Port Harcourt and other major roads in the zone under rehabilitation were at various levels of completion.

The minister applauded the president for the speedy work going on at the second Niger bridge as well as the completion of renovation work at the Akanu Ibiam International Airport in Enugu.

He said: “The administration of Buhari remembers you, the administration remembers South-East and we have seen that projects that were not completed for 16 years under PDP, some have been completed and many are in the process of completion.

“The Zik’s Musoleum started many years ago and abandoned was completed by this administration and today we virtually have a brand new airport with a runway that is one of the best in the country that can take any aircraft.

“Enugu/Port Harcourt express road abandoned for many years and turned into a farmland is almost completed while the Umuahia Federal Medical Centre has been upgraded to world class standard with state-of-the art medical equipment.”

Meanwhile, Mr Eze Nwachukwu, an APC chieftain, while briefing newsmen after the meeting noted that the meeting was aimed at strengthening the party in the state after its poor outing in the 2019 general elections.

Nwachukwu said that the meeting addressed bickerings and other crises that rocked it after the 2019 election.

He added that the reconciliation would make APC stronger and better repositioned to win elections in the state by 2023.

“From today all bickerings, all factions have been buried for us to move forward as we strategise to win elections in 2023,” Nwachukwu said.

He appealed to members to eschew all forms of anti party activities stressing that the party would deal with anybody caught engaging in acts capable of undermining the party in the state.

The chairman frowned at the alleged marginalisation of APC members in the distribution of federal incentives coming to the state and appealed to Buhari to appoint a presidential liaison officer for the state.

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Mr. Temitope Shonubi, Chairman, Board of Directors, Egbin Power Plc, gave the assurance on Tuesday while inaugurating electric buggies and bicycles at the electricity generation company’s complex at Ijede in Ikorodu area of Lagos State.

Shonubi said the 20 buggies and 500 bicycles would be deployed for usage by staff members within the facility as a way of reducing carbon emissions and protecting the environment.

He said: “For us at Sahara Group and Egbin power which is one of our subsidiaries, what we are doing today is to ensure that our environment is sustained.

“We are performing a duty to make sure that the lives of the future generation will be better. We are playing our part because the environment is king.”

According to him, the Genco is laying a foundation Nigeria can build on.

Shonubi said that electric car manufacturer, Tesla, was one of the most valuable companies in the world presently ahead of international oil companies.

“Everywhere in the world, people are talking about electric cars and we are not going to be left behind.

”The government is already looking at alternatives to powering vehicles in Nigeria due to the huge cost of petrol subsidy.

“The government is looking at autogas and we believe that with time this will also be promoted, ” he said.

Shonubi said the plant was currently generating about 860MW of electricity, but only about 500MW was being evacuated by the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN).

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Mr Dimeji Macaulay, the Spokesman for MSA, FCT chapter made the call in an interview with our reporter in Abuja on Friday.

Macaulay was reacting to the 2021 budget presentation by President Muhammadu Buhari, which appropriated N198 billion for power including N150 billion for the Power Sector Recovery Plan under the capital project.

He said that the new methods should include investigation into all the past allocations, how much was duly spent on it and what was the outcome on generation and transmission.

“This isn’t the first time huge amount of money will be budgeted for power sector, past and present government in the past had spent billions of naira on power.

“We need to fight for improved distribution to consumers by metering the houses and also end excess use of public money by the Electricity Distribution Company DISCOs,” he said.

He said that ordinary people had to pay “through their noses’’ for electricity, adding that the DISCOs should bring to an end estimated billing.

Macaulay however appealed to government to ensure that the power sector budget should be supervised by the people.

“If it is a budget of recovery, we must see improvement in the next couple of months,’’ he said.

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Mr Ibrahim Shawai, the Head, Corporate Communications of the company, made the call in an interview with our reporter on Friday in Kano.

Shawai, who was speaking on Nigeria’s 60th Anniversary, said such support was imperative to actualise the objectives of the power reform and achieve sustainable development in the sector.
He described the power reform programme initiated by the Buhari administration as “commendable”, noting that it would go a long to reinvigorate the sector.

“The Buhari administration accorded priority to the power sector.
“The administration recorded significant successes and changed the norm of poor performances to a new era of massive investment and engagement of expertise to unlock the potential in the power sector.

“Presently; we have functional and quick-response approach to tackling the challenges bedeviling the power sector.
“A lot has been done in terms of contract awards and implementations of policies that will materialise in the near future,” he said.
Shawai reiterated the commitment of the company to enhance effective service delivery to customers in its franchise areas of Kano, Katsina and Jigawa states.

Also, Muhammad Kamar, Assistant General Manager, Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) in charge of Kano said the company had executed infrastructure development projects to boost power supply and distribution in Kano and neighbouring states.
Kamar revealed that two power substitution projects were successfully executed in Kano, thus bringing the total number of the substations to six in the state.

He said that the projects were designed to address epileptic power supply to meet the needs of the growing population.
“The population of Kano is expanding and we need more substations, presently we have six functional substations.
“The Federal Government plans additional 10 substations to meet the demand as part of the rehabilitation, transformation and expansion programme.

“Two substation projects were executed in the last five years; the first one was installed in 2016 in Daura, Katsina State, while the second was installed in 2017 at Wudil in Kano,” he said.
Kamar said that the Federal Government was working on Kaduna-Kano Transmission Line to augment the existing Kaduna-Kano-Katsina-Jigawa and parts of Bauchi and Yobe States as well as Niger Republic.

According to him, two power substation projects are executed at Kumbotso and Nasarawa local government areas of Kano State.
Kamar reiterated the readiness of the company to ensure completion of the projects within the stipulated time.
NAN reports that the projects include the 240 MVA and 330 KVA substations at Walalambe and Rimin-Zakara communities of Nasarawa and Ungogo.

“The 240 MVA Walalambe power project initiated in the past 15 years was designed to enhance energy supply to Dakata Industrial Area and its environs in Kano metropolis.
“And the 330 KVA Rimin-Zakara substation project will address epileptic power supply and enhance distribution in Kano metropolis.’’

On his part, Mr David Benjamin, a solar energy specialist stressed the need for the Generation Company of Nigeria (GENCO) and Distribution Companies (DISCO) to work in synergy to improve power supply in the country.
While commending Buhari for the improvement in power supply, Benjamin called for the upgrade and replacement of the obsolete equipment for effective service delivery.
According to him, government and distribution companies need to upgrade electrical equipment and replace obsolete ones.

“Companies should provide better infrastructure, ensure there is prepaid meter for every household and avoid high tariff billing.

“There must be trust and confidence between GENCO and DISCO to achieve sustainable development in the sector.
“Government should create bigger dams, and encourage development of alternative sources of energy such as solar, gas and thermal.

“The Federal Government shall expedite the completion of Mambila power project in Taraba and government should also set up monitoring team to promote compliance to the use of standard equipment.’’

Alhaji Abba Muhammed, the Head of Administration at the Kano Hydro and Energy Company said described the development as a good idea.
Abba advocated for new technologies to boost energy supply in the country.

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The AEDC Managing Director, Mr Ernest Mupwaya announced this in a statement issued in Abuja on Friday.

He said that the review which had become overdue even before the outbreak of COVID 19 became necessary in view of radical changes in the macro-economic indicators such as inflation and foreign exchange.

Mupwaya explained that the new tariff is a total departure from the blanket and across board tariff structure used in the past in the sector.

According to him, the tariff is predicated on the level of service available to customers in different clusters, especially in terms of hours of availability of electricity supply to specific geography within its franchise area.

“Called the Service Reflective Tariff, he said in the release that five tariff bands have been created and listed the band’s as Bands A – E.

“While Band A are customers who have to 20 hours of supply and above, Band B is made up of customers who enjoy electricity supply for at least 16 hours but do so for less that 20 hours daily.

“Bands C & D are customers who enjoy electricity supply for a minimum of 12 hours but not up to 16 hours and a minimum of 8 hours but not up to 12 hours respectively.

“Band E are customers who receive electricity for less than eight hours,” he said.

Mupwaya further said that customers within Bands A – D will experience a marginal upward adjustment in the cost of electricity.

He said that those in Band E will have their tariff frozen until the company could show an improvement in the level of service to the customers within the cluster.

“We have structured the new tariff regime in such a way that there can be fairness and equity both to the service provider and the customer.

“Embedded in the new tariff regime is an incentive for the service provider to speedily ramp up performance to 24 hours in all clusters.

“So that it can draw from the benefit of economics of scale associated with numbers, volume and other parameters within its geography,” he said.

The managing director listed some of its achievements to include the sector leader in the metering of customers, installation of hi-tech technical equipment, and a robust commercial management system, as well as a multi-channel customer contact centre.

He said that the company was prepared more than ever before to further raise the bar of performance in the sector.

Mupwaya also said that the Nigerian power sector had no doubt arrived at a critical juncture as it heads for the point where it could serve as a catalyst for industrial and socio-economic growth and development of the nation.

He noted that the role of customers was a critical element in the transformation journey, which comes in the form of accurate and consistent payment for energy received.

The managing director said that the electricity value chain – Gas Companies, Generation Company, Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) and Distribution Companies could only improve where investment and recovery were at par.

“And the investor has the opportunity for a marginal compensation for his investment,” he said.

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This represents a 57 per cent national electricity access rate compared with the global average of 90 per cent, says the report launched at the United Nations on Thursday.

It indicates an increase in the number of Nigerians with access to electricity by 34.6 million people from 76.1 million in 2010.

On the global scene, the report says the world has made “promising progress” towards ensuring universal access to sustainable energy over the last decade.

According to the document, the number of people without access to electricity dropped from 1.2 billion globally in 2010 to 789 million in 2018.

This, however, is not the case in Nigeria, where the figure rather increased from 82.4 million people without electricity access in 2010 to 85.2 million in 2018.

The reports states that renewable energy solutions played a big role in the global progress, with more than 136 million people receiving basic electricity services from off-grid sources by 2018.

According to the document, the world saw an improvement in renewable energy consumption from 16.3 per cent in 2010 to 17.3 per cent in 2018.

In Nigeria, the report shows that renewables accounted for 83 per cent of the total energy consumed by the citizens in 2017.

But there was a decline in the renewables to total energy ratio in the country from 86.9 per cent in 2010 to the 83 per cent recorded in 2017.

“Still, unless efforts are stepped up significantly, an estimated 620 million people globally would remain without access to electricity in 2030.

“This number could become even higher with the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic,’’ the report warns.

Titled “Tracking SDG 7: The Energy Progress Report’’, the document is published annually by custodian agencies of Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 7, which targets energy access for all.

It provides the most comprehensive look available at the world’s progress towards global energy targets on access to electricity, clean cooking, renewable energy and energy efficiency.

The report also serves to guide international cooperation and policy making to achieve universal and sustainable energy access by 2030.

It is produced by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) in collaboration with the International Energy Agency (IEA), World Bank, Word Health Organisation (WHO) and other relevant agencies.

The report also captures a huge increase in the number of Nigerians with access to clean cooking fuels and technologies between 2010 and 2018.

As of 2018, 20.5 million people or 10 per cent of the population had access to clean cooking energy, up from just 2.7 million people in 2010.

But many Nigerians remained behind on this score with 175.4 million citizens lacking access to clean cooking energy sources in 2018 as against 155.8 million people in 2010.

This also means that the country missed out on the global decline in the number of people without access to clean cooking energy sources from three billion in 2010 to 2.8 billion in 2018.

However, the report reflects an improvement in the country’s energy efficiency by 6.4 per cent between 2015 and 2017, higher than the global average of 5 per cent.

On financing, the document indicates that Nigeria received a total of five billion dollars (about N1.8 trillion) from abroad in support of its renewable energy efforts.

This included funds from the country’s international development partners under Public Private Partnership (PPP) arrangement on renewable energy projects.

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