National grid failure persists in Lagos, as diesel-powered off-grid grows from 8000MW to 23,000MW in 9yrs- Commissioner for Energy
Oredola Adeola
The Lagos State Government has revealed that the off-grid electricity market has grown from 8,000 megawatts of installed diesel capacity to about 23,000 megawatts, within nine years in the state, while the on-grid supply to Eko Disco and Ikeja Electric, the two major electricity distribution franchise owners operating in Lagos State, has barely improved from 800megawatts to 1000 in the period under review.
Engr. Olalere Odusote, Lagos State Commissioner for Energy, made this known in his keynote address on the topic, “Enabling the Lagos State Real Estate Industry through a thriving energy market in Lagos”, at the closing of the 3rd Lagos Real Estate Market Place Conference And Exhibition in Lagos on Thursday.
While bemoaning the power situation in the state, within the last nine years, which he described as terrible, Odusote disclosed that the state injected almost 1,000 transformers into the grid to improve electricity supply to its residents, but without improved supply in grid allocation from the Transmission Company of Nigeria(TCN).
Odusote said that carbon emission from that energy source in Lagos State has become unsustainable, as a lot of the energy utilised in the state is provided by diesel-fired generators and plants.
He explained that this became necessary as most private individuals and businesses in Lagos utilised diesel-powered generators rather than electricity from the national grid.
He noted that the two distribution companies in Lagos State – Eko Disco and Ikeja Electric took off with 800MW/900MW to about 1,000MW, insisting that nothing has changed in the national grid sector nine years after.
“However, due to the growing population of the state, power from alternative sources has grown from about 8,000 megawatts of to about 23,000MW within a span of nine years, despite huge investment in the national grid.
“The diesel market of the off-grid market has grown by about 300 percent but the grid market has not grown at all or just about one to two percent,” the Commissioner noted.
He hinted that the state government has in a bid to play a significant role in the improvement of the electricity market completed the Lagos Electricity sector policy, to provide universal access to electricity for all residents of the state.
Odusote said that the policy draft has been submitted to the Lagos State House of Assembly for consideration to provide the right energy infrastructure and regulation for the increasing population of the state.
He said, “By the time the Assembly is through with the bill, the Lagos State Government will thereafter enact the law regulating the electricity market in the state, to decentralise and democratise the supply of electricity to address the rapid urbanisation of Lagos State.
He noted that the policy will provide the legal, engineering, and commercial frameworks required by the State to create a viable sub-national electricity sector that is entirely off-the-national-grid.
He said, “The Nigerian constitution domiciles the responsibility of regulation and distribution of electricity with the state government, but when the law was passed in 2002, many states were not ready for the responsibility.
“Many housing estates in the state run on diesel generators because they are unable to benefit from the grid, yet they cannot share the excess capacity they currently have because the Federal Government does not permit it.
“Lagos is now ready, willing, and in the process of passing the law. It means we will be able to locally determine our faith when it comes to electricity,” Odusote said.
He however noted that the policy supporting the establishment of the Lagos State Electricity Market(LEM) would see sub-national governments take charge of the electricity sector within their states, particularly underserved and unserved areas not covered by the national grid system, based on the provision of the Sections 13 and 14 of the Concurrent Legislative List in the1999 Constitution, while also collaborating with the players in the Nigerian Electricity Supply Market(NESI).
