Due to perpetual darkness that the people of Ondo South senatorial district have been subjected to for over a decade, Governor Rotimi Akeredolu SAN has approved the commencement of fast-track off-grid electricity services by the state’s Office of Public Utilities in some of the affected towns and villages. Communities that are expected to benefit from the first phase of the programme include Igbokoda, Obenla, Kiribo, Igbotu, Iyansan near Irele, Iju Odo, Bamikemo, Lipanu, Ese near Ogbagi, Ishuada and Ilale near Owo.

Ondo State Governor Rotimi Akeredolu

Others are Araromi Ehin Osa as well as places like Laje beside Ondo, Aponmu near Akure and Ala Elefosan, a boundary community between Akure and Idanre among others.

The power intervention programme captioned, Ondo State Electricity Improvement Scheme, underwent mandatory competitive bidding process in order to select the best partners, costs and tariff plans for the state. About 102 different companies showed interest in the state’s power sector but were pruned to 18 when the state government requested that each company must pay a mandatory expression of interest fee as a strategy to weed off unserious companies.

Twelve (12) private companies eventually won bids for lots across the states to set up modular independent power projects in partnership with the state government using variety of energy mix technologies.

The governor has also approved a new Cluster Offtake Unit (COU) policy for the state for the organization and coordination of small communities and villages into reliable business and legal units that can sustainably procure and utilise electricity as offtakers.

Earlier in March 2018, Governor Akeredolu had approved the setting up of the Ondo State Power Company Limited as a private company limited by guarantee that can enter into joint venture relationship with serious electricity investor for the purpose of powering productive clusters and boundary communities in the state.

In the same development, Governor Akeredolu has approved that the state government obtains a global generation and distribution licence from the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) for parts of the project that come under obligatory industry licence regulation while the state has formally made overture to the local distribution company, the Benin Electricity Distribution Company (BEDC), of its willingness to wheel electricity over its infrastructure as embedded power on mutually beneficial terms in areas that are on the grid, especially in the state capital and other major towns.

The mini-grid intervention for un-served and underserved communities across the state is part of a very ambitious electricity intervention scheme being processed by the Office of Public Utilities (OPU) established by Arakunrin Rotimi Akeredolu in December 2017. The office provides and coordinates expert intervention for utility services as the second leg of the state’s public infrastructure delivery mechanism, especially on electricity and water infrastructure.

The Special Adviser to the Governor on Public Utilities, Engr. Tunji Ariyomo FNSE, in his interaction with journalists explained that the vision of Governor Akeredolu is to expand the electricity value chain in Ondo State by powering the most energy deprived parts of the state and their productive clusters which would then enhance micro-economic activities and productivity.

“Our administration intends to apply modern thinking in solving what has become a perennial challenge in Nigeria. From the model approved by Mr. Govermor, even the communities as Cluster Offtake Units (COU) will own 5% stake in the joint venture.

Communities on their own may not be able to offtake electricity as reliable business and legal entities with dependable and immutable perpetual succession, but as COU with government backing and clearly defined structure, that concern would be gradually mitigated.

We have mandated the companies that were given the final approvals that metering is mandatory. Each household will be metered. Our objective is to promote an electricity intervention best practice that we hope could become a national reference point someday. We want to bring electricity generation closer to the user. We want to bring ownership and inclusiveness in the energy business closer to the people. We want to chart a sustainable path for our communities that are off the national grid so that they do not suffer the fate that our people have experienced in the hands of the local distribution company in the past years.

We want to turn estimated eighteen thousand households in some of the communities into a powerful engagement force to escape the paradox of our energy poverty as an oil producing state”.

The Special Adviser added that “apart from the mini-grids, the state government has reached advanced stage in the completion of the abandoned 30MW tri-fuel power plant near Ore. We have in fact made a formal offer to BEDC to offtake or our willingness to wheel the power over their infrastructure through the distribution substation in Ore town. We want it on record that our first offer was to BEDC. We have other options of engagement which we presently hold to our hearts as our contingency plans.”

Ariyomo further explained that the intervention is not limited to Ondo South senatorial district alone but cut across the state.

“We have also secured Mr. Governor’s approval for a major power plant in Akure, the Alagbaka Independent Power Plant or Alagbaka IPP while he has similarly given us the go-ahead to power all government establishments across the state including hospitals, tertiary institutions, markets and other government owned facilities”.