TheCable

Mark Karst, the chief executive officer of the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), says Nigerian needs N1tr ($5bn) to deliver its 20,000 megawatts electricity target.

Karst said the country would need to invest N200bn ($1bn) annually, to deliver such feat by the year 2020.

Speaking at the house of representatives committee public hearing into the activities of the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) and distribution companies (DISCOS), Karst explained the long term plan.

“We have a long term expansion plan that is detailed to build 20,000mw evacuation capacity by 2020, and the funding would be by external institutions, it will need $1billion annually over that period of time,” he said.

“It is a substantial amount of money. But this is a generation on the move, so the only choice we have would be to see how we raise the money.

Karst added that the “transitional electricity market declared in February 2015 has not been effective” in the country.

With TCN claiming that Nigeria is currently generating 4,800 megawatts, Sam Amadi, chairman od the NERC said Nigeria needs 1,800 more megawatts of electricity before the country can enjoy significantly stable electricity.

TCN also complained that the DISCOs have not being remitting the necessary dues, calling on NERC for strict sanctions against defaulting companies.

Amadi in his reply said NERC is taking it easy on DISCOs in order to build investors confidence in the Nigerian power industry, adding that power cannot be compared to telecommunications.

“It is in the interest of consumers that we help discos and generating companies to survive, but from the beginning of this year, we have been penalising,” he said.

“Recently, we asked Abuja disco to pay N18 million to the family of a child who was electrocuted, and they did that.

“You talk about tariff, but what about gas? The telecommunications industry has the advantage of technological innovations. Electricity is a conservative technology, we cannot do without gas, even if we build solar everywhere.”

The lawmakers at the public hearing urged the regulatory body, the DISCOs and TCN to tackle metering issues and put proper sanctions in place.