Nigeria is a Nation where her citizens consistently live with limited Power Supply daily. Just last month, the power supply dropped from 4,000 megawatts to below 2,500 megawatts, this is grossly insufficient for a developing nation of over 180 million people. The happened due to a shortage of gas supply to the power stations. It has been often said that if all the power facilities in the country should work in their maximum capacity, Nigeria could be generating a whopping 12,000 megawatts. Egypt, which has about less than half the total population of Nigeria generates over 24,000 Megawatts; this means that 99 percent of Egyptians have access to electricity. Mrs. Obioma Onyi – Ogelle, a lecturer of energy and natural resources law at Nnamdi Azikiwe University, said that Nigeria would require up to 50, 000 megawatts of electricity to meets its needs.
While the solution to the energy crisis is going to include fixing the inefficiencies in each segment of the value chain from generation to distribution, there is absolutely a necessity for solutions that will make it effortless for consumers to access the power supply. In a considerable number of circumstances, some consumers may never be able to access power without these solutions. For example, if a remote village is not connected to the power grid and has no access to financial services, energy companies will find it challenging to provide them with electricity.
Given its environmental advantages and potential to reach remote populations who do not have access to power, renewable energy holds the best proposition to combat our power crisis. There have been some arguments against the implementation of renewable energy sources, including affordability. However, the prices will continue to drop with flexible payment options increasing. Additionally, renewable energy operators are working hard to resolving other barriers – like payments collections – to taking clean energy to those outside the grid, which may be excluded financially.
Oluwatobi Williams, a Data and Energy Analyst, explained that Energy analytics could help reduce energy cost through measurement, control, and management system. For the energy supplier, smart meters and other remote monitoring solutions can aid in addressing the issue of meter tampering, which causes them to lose revenue.
Nigeria’s tech community could enable access to clean energy, adoption of renewable energy sources would also help meet the country’s need for a more reliable power supply, and this is an urgent priority and cost driver for entrepreneurs including those in the tech sector.
While the idea of fixing the energy crisis is not a task that can be done in a few weeks, the tech could help accelerate access to power for more people. Solving issues such as payments, access to consumption data, meter – tampering will remove the barriers to reaching the majority of the people who live in rural Nigeria with limited or no access to power.
