The Minister for Energy for the Republic of Ghana, Dr Matthew Opoku Prempeh, on Friday, introduced his three Deputy Ministers to the management of the ministry.
They are Dr. Mohammed Amin Adam, MP for Karaga Constituency, William Owuraku Aidoo, MP for South Afigya Kwabre, and Andrew Kofi Egyapa Mercer, MP for Sekondi Constituency.
Dr. Mohammed Amin Adam and William Owuraku Aidoo previously served as deputy ministers for Energy in charge of Petroleum and Power respectively.
Some industry watchers were of the view that the duo would be made to serve in their previous portfolios but credible information available to energynewsafrica.com pointed to the contrary.
Dr. Mohammed Amin, who is a petroleum economist with many years of experience, has been assigned as the Deputy Minister in charge of Power while William Owuraku Aidoo has been put in charge of Infrastructure and Finance, with
Andrew Kofi Egyapa Mercer, a lawyer, put in charge of Petroleum sector.
In a Facebook post sighted by energynewsafrica.com, Dr Matthew Opoku Prempeh noted that the three would be assisting him in various capacities to run the day-to- day activities of the ministry and ensure the utmost efficiency of the sector.
During the meeting, Dr Matthew Opoku Prempeh said: “I took the opportunity to update them on the newly restructured organogram and urged them to be diligent in executing their duties to ensure that we collectively resolve the issues in the energy sector as well as meeting all the targets as promised in the NPP 2020 manifesto.
“I look forward to working with these brilliant men,” he concluded.
The governing New Patriotic Party NPP stated in its 2020 Manifesto: “Our priority in the energy and petroleum sector is to increase efficiency and ensure value-for-money for all activities, including reliable and affordable power generation and distribution, and further development of the oil and gas sector, as well as renewable sources.”
The party promised to pursue this goal through the following measures:
1. Enforcing competitive procurement of power, the least cost fuel procurement, and
2. minimizing excess capacity charges through the ongoing renegotiation exercise to
3. improve upon the financial health of the sector
4. reducing losses, particularly in power distribution, by ensuring ECG and NEDCo implement
5. incentive-based loss reduction targets for all District Managers
6. significantly improving revenue collection with the implementation of remote sensing technology which is currently being piloted by ECG
7. completing ongoing rural electrification projects to ensure transformation of our rural economies
8. continuing the Auction-Based Licensing strategy for exploratory Oil Blocks to ensure value for money, and
9. Enforcing Local Content policies for the Upstream and Downstream sub-sectors.
Source: www.energynewsafrica.com
Sixteen Ministers of Energy and Petroleum from across Africa have confirmed their participation in this year’s Africa Oil Week, orgnisers of the continent’s flagship oil and gas event, Hyve Group Plc, has said.
Several CEOs and Directors of National Oil Companies, as well as former Presidents of Nigeria and Malawi, have also confirmed their participation.
The annual event, which usually takes place in Cape Town, South Africa, has been moved to Dubai, UAE, due to rising cases of covid-19 in South Africa.
It would start and end from November 8-11, 2021.
The initial line-up consists of two former African Presidents, Commissioner for the African Union Commission, Secretary General for AfCFTA and Ministers from Ethiopia, Kenya, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Republic of Congo, The Gambia, Mali, Burkina Faso and Djibouti. This initial line-up suggests governments’ presence at the Africa Oil Week 2021 would be as strong as ever.
Paul Sinclair, VP of Energy and Government Relations for Africa Oil Week, said: “Governments are an integral part of Africa Oil Week and we are delighted to be able to provide the sector with much needed direct access to these leaders. Discussions onsite will take the form of 15+ National Energy Showcases, ministerial panel discussions and pre-arranged 1-2-1 meetings and will help to drive investment and advance energy projects in to, and across Africa.”
Africa Oil Week is known for gathering vast numbers of African and international energy ministers and acts as a deal-making platform for the most senior stakeholders within the African upstream industry.
Foday Mansaray, Director General for Sierra Leone’s Petroleum Directorate who has also confirmed his participation said “We are very much looking forward to attending Africa Oil Week in Dubai in November. We look forward to participating in the event and presenting opportunities that Sierra Leone has.”
The following Ministers and government leaders are among those who have confirmed to attend Africa Oil Week 2021:
H.E. Olusegun Obasanjo, Former President of Nigeria
H.E. Dr. Peter Arthur Mutharika, Former President of Malawi
H.E. Amani Abou-Zeid, Commissioner for Infrastructure and Energy, African Union Commission
H.E Wamkele Keabetswe Mene, Secretary General of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA)
Hon. Jean-Marc Thystere Tchicaya, Minister of Hydrocarbons, Republic of Congo
Hon. Abdirashiid Mohamed Ahmed, Minister of Petroleum & Mineral Resources, Republic of Somalia
Hon. Timothy Kabba, Minister of Mineral Resources, Republic of Sierra Leone
Hon. Hon. John Munyes, Cabinet Sec Ministry of Petroleum & Mining, Republic of Kenya
Hon. Dr. Koang Tutlam, State Minister of Mines, Petroleum & Natural Gas, Republic of Ethiopia
Hon. Fafa Sayang, Minister of Energy and Petroleum, Republic of Gambia
Hon. Lamine Seydou Traore, Minister of Energy and Water, Republic of Mali
Hon. Dr. Alexandre Dias Monteiro, Minister of Industry Trade and Energy, Cape Verde
His Excellency Abdesselam Ould Mohamed Saleh, Minister of Petroleum, Mines and Energy Mauritania
Hon. Tom Alweendo, Minister of Mines and Energy Republic of Namibia
His Excellency Samou Seidou Adambi, Minister of Water & Mine Republic of Benin
Hon. Bachir Ismael, Minister of Energy, Republic of Burkina Faso
Hon. Yonis Ali Guedi, Minister of Energy, Republic of Djibouti
Atty. Saifuah-Mai Gray, CEO, National Oil Company of Liberia
Hon. Archie Donmo, Director General, Liberia Petroleum Regulatory Authority
Francis Gatare, CEO, Rwanda Mining Petroleum and Gas Board
Proscovia Nabbanja, Ag. Chief Executive Officer, Uganda National Oil Company
Ms. Asha Omar, CEO, Somalia Petroleum Authority
Foday Mansaray, Director General, Petroleum Directorate of Sierra Leone
Maixent Raoul Ominga, Head, SNPC, Republic of Congo
Jerreh Barrow, Commissioner for Petroleum, Ministry of Petroleum & Energy, Republic of Gambia
Dr. Solomon Kassa, Director for Petroleum Exploration, Ministry of Mines and Petroleum, Republic of Ethiopia
Ibrahim Djamous, Director Gen Hydrocarbon, SHT, Republic of Chad
Mr. Famourou Kourouma, Director General ONAP, Republic of Guinea
Alem Kibreab, Director General of the Department of Mines at the Ministry of Energy and Mines, Eritrea
Source: www.energynewsafrica.com
Mohamed Ghanem, the son of a Libyan oil minister during Muammar Gaddafi’s rule, has to pay $1.5 million after he was found guilty of bribery, a Swiss court ruled on Friday.
In one of the rare corruption cases tried internationally against officials from the Gaddafi regime, the Federal Criminal Court of Switzerland found Ghanem “guilty of passive bribery of foreign public officials,” and ordered him to pay the sum to the Swiss government, Reuters reports.
Libya’s National Oil Corporation (NOC) was the plaintiff in the corruption case and was seeking the $1.5 million as compensation. The Swiss court, however, dismissed NOC’s claim and ordered Ghanem to pay the sum to the government of Switzerland.
Mohamed Ghanem is the son of Shukri Ghanem, who was oil minister at one point during Gaddafi’s rule in Libya.
Shukri Ghanem’s body was found floating on the Danube in Vienna in 2012.
At the time, Austrian prosecutors ruled out foul play and said he died of a heart attack before falling into the river. Ghanem had fled Libya in 2011 after the uprising in the country started.
The uprising ended in October 2011 when Gaddafi was captured and killed in Sirte.
The bribery case tried in Switzerland is one of the rare international cases bought against Gaddafi-era senior state officials.
Jean-Marc Carnicé, the lawyer of Shukri Ghanem’s son Mohamed, told Reuters he planned to appeal the Swiss court ruling from Friday, saying Mohamed Ghanem was not involved in corruption. Ghanem is now based in Bahrain and is a senior bank executive.
“For me it is a judgement based on mistaken findings. And I consider this verdict to be unjust since there is no incident of corruption,” Carnicé told Reuters.
Back in 2016, a Norwegian court convicted the former chief legal officer of Norway-based fertilizer maker Yara, Kendrick Wallace, but acquitted the former CEO Thorleif Enger, on bribery charges, including bribes allegedly paid to the family of Shukri Ghanem.
The bribery case tried in Switzerland involved an alleged payment made by Yara into Ghanem’s Swiss bank account, a source with knowledge of the case told Reuters.
Source:Oilprice.com
Nigerian lawmakers on Thursday passed the country’s long-awaited Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB).
This followed approval of recommendations of the report of the Senate Joint Committee on petroleum downstream, petroleum upstream and gas at plenary on Thursday.
According to Vanguard, Chairman of the Senate Joint Committee, who presented the Committee’s report, noted that the bill, when passed into law “will strengthen accountability and transparency of Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) Ltd as a full-fledged CAMA company under statutory and regulatory oversight with better returns to its shareholders and the Nigerian people.”
On the frontier basins, he said the committee’s recommendation recognised the need for the country to explore and develop the country’s frontier basins.
This, he said was to take advantage of the foreseeable threats to the funding of fossil fuel projects across the world due to speedy shift from fossil fuel to other alternative energy sources.
“To this end, the committee recommends funding mechanism of 30 percent of NNPC Ltd profit oil and profit gas as in the production sharing, profit sharing and risk service contracts to fund exploration of frontier basins,” Sabo said.
On host communities’ development, he said to ensure adequate development of the host communities and reduction in the cost of production, the Joint Committee recommended five percent of the actual annual operating expenditure of the preceding financial year in the upstream petroleum operations affecting the host communities for funding of the Host Communities Trust Fund.
According to him, in the past 10 years, the country has only attracted less than five percent of the over 100 billion dollars capital investment inflow into Africa’s oil and gas industry.
He added that all stakeholders were in total support of the passage of the bill as there was no dissenting voice opposing its passage.
He described the bill as laudable and commendable, saying that its passage would bring the long awaited change in the oil and gas industry.
Source:www.energynewsafrica.com
Ghana’s Minister for Energy, Dr Matthew Opoku Prempeh, has held discussions with officials of Dubai Cable Company and Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company.
Dr Matthew Opoku Prempeh, who is in Dubai with the Chief Director of the Ministry and CEO of Ghana Investment Promotion Centre (GIPC), Mr R. Yofi Grant, noted that the two companies presented great government-to-government proposals, to which the GIPC will be following up on.
He said Ghana is on the market for partnerships that seek to reward the nation properly for its natural endowment.
A former Energy Minister under the first administration of President Akufo-Addo, Mr Boakye Agyarko says he is in favour of a thorough investigation into the circumstances that resulted in the award of $170 million judgement debt payment against Ghana.
A London-based United Nations Commission on International Trade Law tribunal has ordered the Government of Ghana to pay a contractually defined early termination payment of more than US$134.3 million plus interest and costs.
This follows the termination of a contract between the Government of Ghana and Ghana Power Generation Company (GPGC), an independent power producer.
In July 2015, Dr Kwabena Donkor, then Minister for Power under the President John Dramani Mahama-administration, signed an Emergency Power Purchase agreement with GPGC for the procurement of 107MW of electricity.
But the current administration, upon recommendations of Power Purchase Agreement Review Committee, terminated the contract because the company failed to meet conditions of the agreement.
Since GPCG secured a judgement debt against Ghana, the issue has generated public discussion with Ghana’s Attorney General and Minister for Justice, Godfred Yeboah Dame giving indications of formally requesting the Criminal Investigations Department of the Ghana Police Service to probe the issue.
Speaking on Accra-based Net 2 TV, Mr Boakye Agyarko, who was the then Minister for Energy, and communicated Cabinet’s decision of termination to GPGC, was asked whether he supports calls for investigations into the causes of the payment of this debt.
“By all means, so far as there is a crime, why not? I am for investigations all through and through. People must be held accountable if found culpable. Lessons must be learnt,” he said.
South Sudan is experiencing a rapid drop in crude output as producing oil blocks have hit peaks and have begun to decline, according to Ministry of Petroleum Undersecretary Awow Daniel Chuang.
Block 3 and 7 in Upper Nile have fallen to 103,000 barrels per day from an initial 120,000 bpd. Blocks 1, 2 and 4 have come down to 48,000 bpd from 53,000 bpd, Awow Chuang said as carried by Bloomberg.
Block 5A is yielding 3,000 bpd after production resumed, and is expected to reach 8,000 bpd by the end of the year.
“The only potential is block 5A, which still remains capped,” he said.
“Today the production has dropped to 154,000 barrels a day from three producing areas.” It used to be as much as 180,000 barrels two years ago.
Oil shipments account for almost all of government revenues and declining reserves could spell doom for one of the world’s poorest economies.
To reverse the downturn, the African nation’s government will aim to improve the recovery factor — the extractable crude, Chuang said, without giving details. Blocks 3 and 7 have a recovery factor of only 23%, while blocks 1, 2 and 4 have 33%, he said.
“Block 3 and 7 can be increased to 35%, block 1, 2 and 4 to 45% and this will significantly increase production rates,” he said.https://energynewsafrica.com/index.php/2021/05/31/exxonmobil-abandons-ghana-almost-three-years-of-exploration/
Ghana’s utilities regulator, Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC), has launched a state of the art Database Management System (DMS) at its head office in Accra, capital of Ghana.
The US$165,000 project was fully funded by the Korea-Africa Economic Cooperation (KOAFEC) Trust Fund through the African Development Bank (AfDB) and developed by local IT firm, Indisys Global Ltd.
The project provides a secure, multi-tier management system for all regulatory data with role-based access and front–end capability for processing, reporting and management of the Commission’s operations.
The DMS has about 22 features such as research assessment, projects, surveys, ratings, help desk, court cases and messages.
Speaking at a virtual launch of the Database Management System under the theme: ‘Effective Power Sector Regulation Through Improved Technology’, Executive Secretary of the PURC, Mami Dufie Ofori noted that the establishment of the DMS is in line with the overall digitisation agenda of the government and aimed at boosting the efficiency and effectiveness of doing business in Ghana for accelerated socio-economic development.
She expressed optimism that the initiative would open the Commission’s services and the utility sector to stakeholders by ensuring easy access to data.
She added that it would enable the Commission to access and disseminate the appropriate information and reports for effective decision making amongst many other outcomes.
“The DBMS, being launched today, is the latest addition to our digitisation process, which began with the installation of a state of the art electricity meter testing laboratory and computerisation of the Human Resource Management System.”
The next phase in this endeavor, Mrs Dufie said is to network the utilities’ operational system to access real-time performance data to enable the Commission take appropriate and timely regulatory decisions.
She commended the staff of PURC, the African Development Bank, as well as the Korea-Africa Economic Cooperation Trust Fund, for their support which has brought about the realisation of the initiative.
Making a statement on behalf of AfDB, Mr Callixte Kambanda, Manager for Energy, Policy, Regulation and Statistics, commended the PURC for its digitisation drive which, he said, falls in line with the Bank’s policy.
Mr Kambanda, emphasising on the importance of the Database Management System, charged the PURC to encourage the energy sector institutions to use the platform.
The Korean Ambassador to Ghana, His Excellency Lim Jung-taek, the guest speaker, was hopeful that the DBMS would help strengthen energy regulation in Ghana.
On her part, Minister for Communication and Digitisation, Ursula Ekuful, in a speech read for her, noted that the world is rapidly moving towards virtual activities and engagements, stating that any country that wishes to flourish in the twenty-first century must embrace technology and digitisation in its development agenda.
“The emergence of coronavirus has more than tripled the world’s digitisation rate,’’ she said.
She noted that PURC’s Database Management System would not only provide solutions for customers and increase information sharing with stakeholders, but would also vastly improve the Commission’s internal working relationships.
The Minister commended PURC and encouraged other government agencies to use information communication technology in the same way.
Source:www.energynewsafrica.com
Government of Ghana is in talks with Russia’s oil and gas firm, Lukoil, to replace EXXONMOBIL, after the US super major relinquished its 80 percent stake in the Deepwater Cape Three Points Oil Block offshore Ghana.
According to sources, some oil and gas firms have started knocking the doors of the government, but Lukoil is likely to be the preferred company to partner GOIL and GNPC, the country’s national oil companies.
Energynewsafrica.com has contacted Lukoil for comment but the company is yet to respond to our questions.
A source at GOIL told energynewsafrica.com that the country’s leading oil marketing company was aware that the government is in talks with Lukoil.
The source said GOIL spent close to US$3 million as far as the Deepwater Cape Three Points oil block was concerned.
EXXONMOBIL signed petroleum exploration agreement with Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) on behalf of Ghana for the development of Deepwater Cape Three Points Oil Block.
EXXONMOBIL held 80 percent stake while GNPC held 15 percent stake with GOIL holding the remaining five percent in accordance with the country’s local content policy LI2022.
The work done by the US super major included processing about 2222 square km of 3D seismic data.
According to sources close to the deal, EXXONMOBIL spent close to US$60 million.
The company, according to sources, had planned to spend US$12 billion to develop their block.
Speaking at the 52nd Annual General Meeting last week, Group CEO of GOIL, Osei Kwame Prempeh assured the company’s shareholders that the investment they made towards the Deepwater Cape Three Points oil block has not gone waste.
He said many investors have started knocking on the doors of GNPC to take-over the field.
“I believe there is no way we cannot have another investor; indeed ExxonMobil is the largest deepwater explorer and they assess their risk differently. If they assess and feel not satisfied with the risk and quantity, any middle level explorer will find it suitable, so as of now, GNPC has assured that people [investors] are knocking at their doors.
“If Exxon goes out doesn’t mean our investment is wasted but what we are hoping is that, we have already expended money on the project and if a new partner comes on board, our investment will be topped up from the five percent in Exxon. So, we believe it is not going to be difficult at all for us to get an investor very soon,” he said.
Source: www.energynewsafrica.com
Credible information available to energynewsafrica.com indicates that Dr. Mohammed Amin Adam has been made the Deputy Minister for Energy responsible for Power while Kofi Egyapa Mercer, MP for Sekondi, has been made the Deputy Minister responsible for Petroleum.
William Owuraku Aidoo, MP for South Afigya Kwabre, who was Deputy Minister responsible for Power during the first term of the Akufo-Addo-administration, has now been made Deputy Minister responsible for Finance and Infrastructure.
Dr Amin Adam has worked extensively on extractive industries and resource management as a university lecturer, advisor on resource governance and a campaigner for transparency in resource management around the globe.
He has advised governments and provided technical support to civil society and parliamentary committees on energy, mines and finance in Ghana, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Uganda, Tanzania, Senegal, South Sudan and Kenya.
Before working at the Ministry of Energy, Amin Adam was the Founder and Executive Director of the Africa Centre for Energy Policy (ACEP).
He also worked as an Energy Policy Analyst at the Ministry of Energy in Ghana, Commissioner of Ghana’s Public Utilities Regulatory Commission, Deputy Minister of State for the Northern Region, and Mayor of Ghana’s third city of Tamale.
He was also the Africa Coordinator of extractives industries in Ibis.
He held board positions in the Open Contracting Partnership; the Natural Resources and Community Review, the Weston Oil and Gas Fund; and Zoil Oil Waste Services, among others.
Dr Adam holds a PhD. in Petroleum Economics from CEPMLP of the University of Dundee in the UK specialising in petroleum fiscal systems, fiscal policy in resource-led economies, and resource governance.
He also holds an MPhil (Economics) and B.A. (Hons) Economics from the University of Cape Coast in Ghana and is a Fellow of the Institute of Certified Economists of Ghana (ICEG).
Andrew Kofi Egyapa Mercer
On the other hand, Andrew Kofi Egyapa Mercer is a lawyer and holds Bachelor of Arts in Humanities and Bachelor of Law.
He studied at the Ghana School of Law and qualified as a lawyer in Ghana after passing his BAR examination.
Egyapa Mercer commenced his work with Messrs Acquah-Sampon and Associates, a firm of solicitors based in Accra in 2004 and joined First Atlantic Bank in Accra in 2007 as an Assistant Manager and advanced to become the head of the Legal Department.
He resigned in 2013 to set up the Mercer Company, a corporate and investment law firm based in Accra.
William Owuraku Aidoo
Regarding William Owuraku Aidoo, he is an energy consultant and a farmer.
Prior to entering politics, he was the Managing Director of Kucons Company Limited, a construction company involved in the construction and rehabilitation of dams.
He was a Senior Superintendent at the Ghana Education Service (GES) between 1991 and 1994 and a Senior Manager at the Ghana Commercial Bank (GCB) from 1995 until 2012.
While working at the bank, he doubled as a lecturer at the University of Education, Winneba, from 2009 to 2012. As a farmer, he won the national best farmers’ award for cashew production in Ghana in 2011.
Source: www.energynewsafrica.com
The African Development Bank, the Korean Ministry of Economy and Finance and the Export-Import Bank of Korea have signed an agreement, under which Korea will provide $600 million in co-financing for energy projects alongside the African Development Bank.
The Korea-Africa Energy Investment Framework (KAEIF) pact follows the signing on 28 May 2021 of a General Cooperation Agreement between the Bank and the Korean government.
The KAEIF has a particular focus on renewable energy solutions in Africa, including generation, transmission, distribution, off-grid- and mini-grid, policy & regulatory reform, energy efficiency and clean cooking projects.
“The KAEIF demonstrates the close cooperation between the African Development Bank and the Republic of Korea on the development of Africa’s energy sector. KAEIF will provide much needed additional funding, to supplement the Bank’s financing, to support accelerated energy access and the continent’s just transition to clean energy,” said Dr. Kevin Kariuki, the African Development Bank’s Vice President for Power, Energy, Climate and Green Growth.
The Korean Ministry of Economy and Finance stressed that “similar to how the Korean Government prioritized the Green New Deal as its latest growth engine in the post COVID-19 landscape, the Facility is expected to help African countries transition to green energy while simultaneously improving access to energy.”
KAEIF funds will also support project preparation, capacity building and knowledge-sharing activities through the Korea-Africa Economic Cooperation (KOAFEC) Trust Fund. Korea joined the African Development Fund and the Bank’s Capital in 1980 and 1982, respectively.
In 2013, the Korean government set up KOAFEC as a conduit for contributions to multi-donor and special funds managed by the Bank.
Source:www.energynewsafrica.com
The Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company (IBEDC) in the Federal Republic of Nigeria has distanced itself from the sale and installation of defunct Unistar prepaid meters.
According to IBEDC, it has stopped the sale of Unistar prepaid meters to customers since 2014 in compliance with the directive of the Nigeria Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC).
The reaction of IBEDC follows reports of activities of unscrupulous agents operating within IBEDC’s franchise area selling and installing Unistar prepaid meters to unsuspecting customers.
In a statement, Management of IBEDC explained that it no longer sells Unistar prepaid meters, hence, any customer who purchased the Unistar meter after 2014 did not buy it from them neither do such customers pay for electricity they consume on those meters to IBEDC whenever they vend.
According to IBEDC, Unistar Hi-Tech Systems Limited, manufacturer’s of the meters recently issued a disclaimer that it has discontinued the production and the sale of such meters since 2014 in line with the NERC’s directive.
IBEDC explained that the Association of the Electrical Installer of Nigeria (AEIPON) which has continued to promote the sale and installation of the Unistar meter is not in anyway affiliated to them, nor does it represent the interest of the company.
IBEDC recalled that the same Association in 2017, took them to court, praying the court to compel the company to absorb the illegally sold and installed Unistar meters for some of IBEDC customers at Osun State. However, the court also held that because the meters were installed in IBEDC’s network illegally, it constitutes economic sabotage.
Despite the judgment of the Federal High Court, the Association of the Electrical Installer of Nigeria (AEIPON) in 2020, through a legal firm N.O. Folorunsho & CO wrote a letter, contesting IBEDC’s rights to disconnect illicit meters within its network and requested to install Unistar meters to customers.
“Our Legal Department in response to the letter, reinstated the court’s ruling in the case referenced above and declined the association’s request to install Unistar meters for customers within our franchise.
“This act largely is capable of misleading our esteemed customers and portraying the company as an organisation that does not have regards for the rule of law,” IBEDC noted.
Speaking about this development, the Chief Operating Officer (COO) of IBEDC, Engr. John Ayodele said IBEDC, as a customer centric organisation, is committed to metering all its customers though the current National Mass Metering Programme (NMMP) approved by the Federal Government of Nigeria.
He appealed to customers to be more cautious and not fall into the hands of fraudsters who parade themselves as narketers, selling and installing illicit meters not recognised by the company or approved by NERC.
‘’From the 105,000 meters allocated to IBEDC under Phase zero of NMMP, we have metered over 69,000 of our customers while we continue to give free meters to customers within our network as the next phase of the program kicks off soon. Do not pay anyone for meter or installation’’ Engr. Ayodele explained.
He also advised customers or stakeholders that want meters to visit any IBEDC office closest to them or call our customer Care line 07001239999, for more information and clarification visit www.ibedc.com.
Source:www.energynewsafrica.com
Power Minister R K Singh has said that as much as USD 70 billion (about Rs 5.2 lakh crore) has been invested in renewable energy across the country in the past seven years. This assumes significance in view of India’s ambitious target of having 175 gigawatts (GW) of renewable energy by 2022.
Singh was addressing at an event on ‘Accelerating Citizen Centric Energy Transition’ yesterday evening, organised by The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE). It was conducted in collaboration with the Permanent Mission of India (PMI) to the United Nations and the Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW).
The virtual event was organised on the sidelines of the Ministerial Thematic Forums week (June 21-25) for the UN High Level Dialogue on Energy to be convened on September 20 this year.
India has been designated a Global Champion for Energy Transition, one of the five themes at the dialogue.
Singh said, “During the past seven years, over USD 70 billion investment has been made in renewable energy in India. India has a liberal foreign investment policy for renewables allowing 100 per cent FDI through the automatic route in sector.”
He added that ensuring ‘ease of doing business’ is the government’s utmost priority. “Our continuous focus is on maintaining sanctity of contracts and safeguarding investments.”
The minister also talked about the establishment of dedicated project development cells (PDC) and foreign direct investment (FDI) cells in all ministries for handholding and facilitating domestic and foreign investors.
Adequate measures and safeguards have also been undertaken to address the concerns of businesses and investors arising out of the COVID-19 pandemic, Singh added.
He launched a booklet on ‘The India Story’, a compilation of Indian initiatives that are shaping India’s energy transition.
The minister said ‘The India Story’ booklet captures the essence of some of the flagship initiatives that have accelerated energy transition.
“These will continue to power our ambitious renewable energy programmes, with the end goal of ensuring access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all, while always keeping the citizen at the center of this transition,” he added.
He also launched a website (www.energytransition.in), which will act as a repository of energy transition related knowledge resources from around the world.
Singh further said a Renewable Energy Investment Promotion and Facilitation Board (REIPFB) portal has also been developed to provide a one-stop assistance and facilitation to the industry and investors for development of projects and bringing new investment to the renewable energy sector in India.
He lauded the commitment shown by the Indian industry to India’s energy transition plans.
Several members from the industry have voluntarily declared RE goals and committed to the carbon disclosure project (CDP), renewable 100 per cent and science-based targets (SBTs).
Many of them are also preparing substantive energy compacts for the September Dialogue.
By: Yusuff Wale, Managing Director, Wärtsilä Marine & Power Services Nigeria Ltd
On 28 May 2021, Nigeria’s national power generation dropped to 3,059 MW and for the subsequent seven days remained below 4,000 MW, six per cent below average production. Low pressure on the Escravos-Lagos Pipeline System (ELPS) left several gas turbine power plants with insufficient gas supply, leading to plant shutdowns and widespread power blackouts.
Unlike gas turbine power plants, gas engine power plants have the flexibility to function during low gas pressure events. This flexibility significantly lowers power production risk, a supreme advantage in context of gas supply disruptions and systemic power shortages.
Power cuts in Nigeria are a regular occurrence. Data from the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) shows that from 2013 to 2020, the national grid system failed 84 times and partially collapsed 43 times. The World Bank data on countries with the most electricity outages in Africa showed that in 2019, Nigeria suffered outages for 191 days out of 365. The economic cost of power shortages in the country is estimated at around $28 billion annually – equivalent to two per cent of its Gross Domestic Product.
Power plants suffer from disrupted gas supply
Gas is used to fuel more than 80% of power generation capacity, in Nigeria that has the largest gas reserves in Africa. Despite major progress achieved over the past years, gas infrastructures development and maintenance remain insufficient, and this situation combined with infrastructure sabotage results in the country suffering from insufficient pipeline capacity and a lack of pipeline connections. The condition of the gas transmission and distribution system is a major constraint as domestic supply shortages and insufficient pressure severely affect the reliability of the power supply.
What does this mean in practice?
Trunk pipelines like the ELPS require sufficient volumes of natural gas to be fed into the system within a specified pressure range to ensure that gas is delivered to all consumers along the pipeline as per the contracted quality and quantity. A drop in the volumes leads to a drop in the pressure leading to disruptions between the ELPS and end consumers. In such a scenario, high pressure off-takers such as gas turbine power plants can no longer operate and drop out as consumers, thus freeing up the remaining gas volumes for low pressure off-takers such as reciprocating gas engine power plants which can continue to operate at full rated capacity.
Workable solutions adapted to fluctuating fuel supply and load
The flexible power plants, made up of multiple engine modules which can be turned-down or fired-up instantaneously, offer a large range in power supply availability. In addition to being robust and versatile to manage the current generation and transmission side disturbances, they are also the perfect ally of renewable energies since they can adjust output in response to the intermittent nature of the weather.
Engine-based technologies also provide the best response times to effectively adapt to sudden excess or shortfall in electricity production. Furthermore, their modular format means that they can be sized to meet specific requirements, for a city, for manufacturing industries, or for local micro-grids. This makes them easier and faster to install than larger gas turbine plants and facilitates expansion as energy requirements increase.
Gas turbine power plants on the other hand involve a continuous combustion process. They require a constant energy supply to generate consistent output. They are not adapted to operate on a stop-start basis, nor are they designed to cope with the intermittent nature of renewables. To maintain a balanced system, flexible forms of electricity must be available to ramp up output at the same rate that wind or solar output fluctuates. Using small, modular, combustion engines to provide load flexibility enables larger combined cycle plants to provide a stable base load taking advantage of high efficiencies when operating at full capacity and reducing overall energy costs.
Unlocking the full potential of Nigeria’s power sector
The reality today is that Nigeria’s power system faces several challenges, including blackouts, fuel shortages, financing, maintenance, demanding operating conditions and reduced cooling water availability. The size of the gap between the country’s energy needs and its current provision is daunting but not impossible to close.
As the largest economy in Africa, with huge gas reserves and high solar energy potential, Nigeria has all the natural resources necessary to meet the country’s power needs. To realise the full benefits of this potential, flexible engine technology offers a superior solution over gas turbine technology. Increasing access to electricity ranks as one of the major drivers for business growth. Improving power sector performance, particularly for manufacturing and services, will be central to unlocking Nigeria’s economic growth post COVID-19.
“I look forward to working with these brilliant men,” he concluded.
The governing New Patriotic Party NPP stated in its 2020 Manifesto: “Our priority in the energy and petroleum sector is to increase efficiency and ensure value-for-money for all activities, including reliable and affordable power generation and distribution, and further development of the oil and gas sector, as well as renewable sources.”
The party promised to pursue this goal through the following measures:
1. Enforcing competitive procurement of power, the least cost fuel procurement, and
2. minimizing excess capacity charges through the ongoing renegotiation exercise to
3. improve upon the financial health of the sector
4. reducing losses, particularly in power distribution, by ensuring ECG and NEDCo implement
5. incentive-based loss reduction targets for all District Managers
6. significantly improving revenue collection with the implementation of remote sensing technology which is currently being piloted by ECG
7. completing ongoing rural electrification projects to ensure transformation of our rural economies
8. continuing the Auction-Based Licensing strategy for exploratory Oil Blocks to ensure value for money, and
9. Enforcing Local Content policies for the Upstream and Downstream sub-sectors.
Source: www.energynewsafrica.com
The next phase in this endeavor, Mrs Dufie said is to network the utilities’ operational system to access real-time performance data to enable the Commission take appropriate and timely regulatory decisions.
She commended the staff of PURC, the African Development Bank, as well as the Korea-Africa Economic Cooperation Trust Fund, for their support which has brought about the realisation of the initiative.
Making a statement on behalf of AfDB, Mr Callixte Kambanda, Manager for Energy, Policy, Regulation and Statistics, commended the PURC for its digitisation drive which, he said, falls in line with the Bank’s policy.
Mr Kambanda, emphasising on the importance of the Database Management System, charged the PURC to encourage the energy sector institutions to use the platform.
The Korean Ambassador to Ghana, His Excellency Lim Jung-taek, the guest speaker, was hopeful that the DBMS would help strengthen energy regulation in Ghana.
On her part, Minister for Communication and Digitisation, Ursula Ekuful, in a speech read for her, noted that the world is rapidly moving towards virtual activities and engagements, stating that any country that wishes to flourish in the twenty-first century must embrace technology and digitisation in its development agenda.
“The emergence of coronavirus has more than tripled the world’s digitisation rate,’’ she said.
She noted that PURC’s Database Management System would not only provide solutions for customers and increase information sharing with stakeholders, but would also vastly improve the Commission’s internal working relationships.
The Minister commended PURC and encouraged other government agencies to use information communication technology in the same way.
Source:www.energynewsafrica.com
