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‘Government should ensure electricity tariff is cost-reflective’

By Benjamin Alade
18 October 2019   |   4:12 am
Chairman of Ibom Power Limited, Etido Inyang, has stressed the need for government to ensure that electricity tariff is cost-reflective, in efforts to address supply deficits estimated at about 16,000 megawatts (MW).

[FILES] Transmission Company of Nigeria

Chairman of Ibom Power Limited, Etido Inyang, has stressed the need for government to ensure that electricity tariff is cost-reflective, in efforts to address supply deficits estimated at about 16,000 megawatts (MW).

According to him, this will encourage private equity investment in the power sector, and lift the finance burden off government.

Inyang disclosed this at the 15th International Conference and Exhibition on Power and Telecommunications (ICEPT), in Akwa Ibom.

He said in view of the considerable multiplier effect that the introduction of cost-reflective electricity tariffs will have on inflation, cost of manufacturing, and cost of living, government has to provide adequate social-economic safety nets to ameliorate the impact.

Inyang said while striving to provide access to electricity for all, Nigeria needs to develop a diversified energy mix, which requires diversification from natural-gas-to-power to renewable energy.

He argued that energy mix diversification is essential towards the realisation of Nigeria’s lofty target of Vision 30:30:30 objective of 30,000MW by 2030.

Presently, he said natural gas accounts for about 85 per cent of grid-connected power generation; the remaining 15 per cent is from hydro-electricity.

He urged electrical and electronics engineers to invest sufficient energy and time towards developing and implementing measures that will address the challenges associated with Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry (NESI).

In his presentation, titled, “The challenge of standards development in a developing economy,” member, Technical Committee, Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON), Akan Micheal, said the country lacks the requisite requirements for standards development.

Micheal said Nigeria is a consumer nation, and also consumes standards especially technical standards. It does not develop or engage in the development of standards but adapts and adopts standards for her use.

He said standards development in the country requires an enhanced environment with the needed infrastructure, social service, manpower, and funding.

To achieve this, he said the society and government must establish and/or upgrade institutional and specialised laboratories, engage in industrialisation, research, technology innovation, training etc

Earlier in his opening remarks, National Chairman, Nigerian Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (NIEEE), John Funsho-Adebayo, said standards basically help to confirm that all goods and services possess the same quality and standard irrespective of the place of manufacture.

According to him, based on the global agreement, standards help countries to accomplish various objectives such as providing a universal technical foundation for manufacturing goods, services or systems anywhere and confirming safety and performance.

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