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NIQS, NERC urges investment in alternative energy

By BusinessNews Staff on October 14, 2014

Private sector investors have been encouraged to focus more attention on other energy sources, including clean coal, large and small hydro plants, solar, wind, waste to power, biomass and tidal energy, the Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, Mr. Sam Amadi, has said.

Amadi spoke at the Annual Distinguished Lecture of the Nigerian Institute of Quantity Surveyors, Lagos Chapter, on the theme, ‘The power sector reforms and the aftermaths – Appraising the impact on the economy’.

He said the Federal Government had put in place special incentives on the renewable energy sources, including the NERC Feed-in-Tariffs regime to attract investors.

“It is pertinent to note that the quantity surveying professionals have very critical roles to play in every facet of the power businesses thereby converting the sectoral aftermaths to opportunities,” Amadi said.

According to him, the country’s available generation capacity of about 7,000 megawatts and average actual generation of around 4,500MW are largely hindered by frequent gas supply interruptions, adding that the government was working to ensure that gas supply infrastructure were secured and sustainable commercial gas framework was put in place.

He said, “We can therefore deduce that Nigeria is finally getting it right, albeit the hard way after long years of neglect, underfunding, mismanagement, technical inefficiencies and non-aligned policy and regulatory structures in the Nigeria electricity supply industry. The NESI is picking pace to its intended reform path with private sector participants willingly partaking in the industry.

“I am confident that keeping pace with the right momentum and even added zeal from all stakeholders, particularly the new owners/potential investors, oil & gas producers, policy makers, regulators, customers, professional bodies like the NIQS, unions and civil society organisations, the challenges to growth of the sector shall be transformed to viable opportunities.”

The Chairman, Lagos chapter, NIQS, Mr. Olayemi Shonubi, stated that the aim of the discourse was to create clear perspectives for understanding the challenges thrown up by the reform in the power sector as well as its effects on the overall economy.

He said, “The full implementation of the Electric Power Sector Reform has been a key component of the Transformation Agenda of the administration of President Goodluck Jonathan and this informed the initiation of the roadmap for the power sector reform, culminating in the unbundling and sale of the PHCN successor companies in the biggest privatisation exercise in global history.

“This year’s theme has been chosen to address issues arising from these as well as the prospects for an improved and stable power supply, given that regular and reliable electricity supply is crucial for any meaningful economic development.”

[Punch]

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