By Obinna Chima
The aggregated power poll results released by NOIPolls for the second half of 2016 (July to December 2016), revealed a decline in power supply to Nigerian households in the fourth quarter (Q4) as only an average of 37 per cent reported improvement in power supply.
This represented a significant 9-point decline when compared to the third quarter (Q3) of 2016 at 46 per cent.
Moreover, the survey showed that Nigerians experienced the highest improvement in power supply in Q3 (46 percent). This, it said was possibly as a result of the adequate water reserves in the nation’s water dams within this period (the peak of the rainy season) used to power the Hydro Generating Plants since Nigeria’s Kainji, Shiroro and Jebba hydro plants rely on water to generate electricity.
A view of the individual months covered in this period revealed a constant downward trend observed from the month of October to December 2016 and the month of December accounted for the lowest (27 percent) improvement in power supply in the second half of 2016.
Similarly, analysis of the monthly average cumulative hours of power supply experienced by Nigerian households nationwide for the months of August and September 2016 each stood at 10.6 hours daily, representing the highest daily cumulative hours of power supply within the six month period, while the quarterly nationwide average daily cumulative power supply to Nigerian households in Q3, 2016 stood at 9.9 hours.
The survey however explained:”It is pertinent to note that although these daily average hours of cumulative availability of power were not near an acceptable standard of 24 hours daily supply, it was perceived to be a little better than the results obtained in Q1, Q2 and Q4, 2016 with the quarterly nationwide average daily cumulative power supply of 8.8 hours, 6 hours and 9.6 hours respectively.
“These current results were in line with the power industry statistics obtained from the National Electric System Operation (SO) which showed that electricity generation improved step by step in the third and fourth quarter of the year across the country as power generation hovered above 4,000MW, contrary to around 2,500 to 3,000 megawatts in the second quarter. Nonetheless, more still needs to be done to find a pragmatic solution to issues militating against power generation, transmission and distribution as anything short of this is capable of affecting development in the county.
“Lastly, the power insufficiency in the country is of great concern and calls for immediate action to address this persistent problem. Nigerians are not oblivious of the tremendous efforts of the federal government of Nigeria at salvaging the Nigerian economy, but without fixing the power sector, those efforts would be futile.
“This is because constant electricity supply is pivotal to achieving socio-economic development and as a nation that craves immense development in this regard; more needs to be done.”
Analysis of findings from the monthly tracking of power supply over a period of six months, precisely from July to December 2016, revealed that 53 percent of Nigerians experienced more power supply in the month of September. However, a constant downward trend was observed from the month of October to December 2016 and the month of December accounted for the lowest (27 percent) in power supply in the second half of 2016.
Since the Power Sector Reform Act was enacted in 2005, transferring the public control of the Nigerian Electricity Power Authority (NEPA) to the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN), the federal government has made frantic efforts to attract private investors while also taking various steps towards the restructuring of the Nigerian power sector, all in a bid to establish an electricity supply that is efficient, reliable and cost-effective throughout the country. However, it has seemed like a herculean task as power supply is yet to improve as hoped since the privatization.
The National Electric System Operation (SO), puts the general National Peak Demand Forecast at about 17,000MW, conversely the highest power generation ever attained was 5,074.7MW while the recent peak energy generated is just a little over 4, 000MW. This is paltry when compared to the national demand and easily translates to an unavailable and unstable electricity supply. This situation is rather lamentable as Nigerians still depend on imported generators for electricity as the little generated is not sufficient for the over 170 million citizens of the country.
With the aim of monitoring the progress made so far since the power sector reforms in Nigeria, NOIPolls introduced the Power Polls in 2013 to explore the perception of Nigerians towards the power sector reforms. The polls were conducted monthly to explore the amount of power supply received daily, as well as the state of power supply to households. The result presented is a 6-Months (July – December) tracking of power supply to households from the consumers’ end in 2016.
