Power crisis: FG to begin registration of generators, other appliances

By Oscarline Onwuemenyi
ABUJA – The Federal Government has announced that it would soon commence the registration and certification of generators and other electrical appliances to ensure that they meet standards for operation in the country in a bid to curb wastages in the electricity system.

It also lamented that more than 50 percent of energy generated in the country is lost as a result of technical and non-technical reasons including the wasteful lifestyles of Nigerians.

The Administrator of the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, Mallam Immamudeen Talba, who made the announcement at a Workshop on Energy Efficiency, Labeling and Standards, in Abuja, said that the purpose of the workshop was to consider standards for effective electricity regulation in the country so as to curb wastage in the system.

He said, “NERC will work with all government agencies involved in the process to see to the successful implementation of the standards as soon as possible. Importers of these items including electric generating sets will be required to register with the Commission and have their products certified thereto once the standards are in place.”

Talba explained that more than 55 percent of power generated in the country is lost due to technical and non-technical factors.

“The technical loss refers to the power lost as a consequence of our weak transmission and distribution network, while the non-technical has to do with the energy loss as a result of consumers’ lifestyles and the use of non-energy saving components or devices including incandescent light-bulbs, refrigeration and air-conditioning systems and even electric generators,” he explained.

He also blamed some of the energy loss on the non-payment of electricity bills, and infractions on the metering system by some unscrupulous individuals, adding that such infractions have led to improper measurement of electricity usage in some areas.

According to him, “What we are trying to do is to produce standards. Some of the appliances used in the country contribute to a lot of energy wastage. Most of the light-bulbs, air-conditioners and refrigerators we have in the country consume so much energy, and that is part of the waste we are talking about.

“By the time the standards are on ground, nobody will be allowed to import just any type of electrical component into the country. We are looking at the possibility of calling for a ban on some of these products, but we are also conscious that currently there may not be enough energy saving bulbs in the country to replace the bad ones. We want to start with the replacement of what we have.

“In 2007, Ghana replaced about 6 million bulbs and saved about 124MW; we think that in Nigeria, if we are able to replace about 80 percent of the bulbs used in the country, we certainly would be able to save more than that.

“We are also considering the fact that there may not be enough energy-saving bulbs in the country to replace the ones that will be banned; so, we hope we can have people invest in the development and production of such LED, intelligent light-bulbs in the country as there is a guaranteed market.”

Talba posited that energy efficiency had to do with the “reduction of the energy used for a given service (heating, lighting, etc) or level of activity. The reduction in the energy consumption is usually associated with technological changes, but it can also result from better organization and management.”

According to him, energy efficiency was “a matter of individual behavior,” adding that, avoiding unnecessary consumption of energy or choosing the most appropriate equipment to reduce the cost of the energy helps to decrease individual energy consumption.

“Thermal regulation of room temperature and automatic de-activation of lights in unoccupied hotel rooms are good examples of how equipment can reduce the influence of individual behavior,” he added.

The NERC boss said the Commission had issued out efficient performance standards to the electricity industry on the supply side, adding that, “The Multi-Year Tariff Order (MYTO) methodology was also designed to encourage efficiency in production and distribution of electricity. On the supply side, cost-reflective tariff are expected to lead to better energy management by consumers.”