FG to involve more Nigerians in Meter Manufacturing – Fashola The Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Mr Babatunde Fashola on Thursday said the Federal Government had concluded plans to involve more Nigerians in meter manufacturing. Fashola spoke while inspecting the National Meter Test Station in Oshodi, Lagos. He said that the measure would reduce the pressure on Electricity Distribution Companies (DISCOs) on meter supply. “The core business of DISCOs is to transport energy; their business is not to supply meters. “The government will address metering more vigorously this year with regulations which will open up business in metering to more investors. “This will reduce the pressure on DISCOs so that they can concentrate more on their core business. “So, we will open up the business to other people who want to play in the sector once the meter regulations are completed this year,” he said. Fashola said that Nigeria’s meter journey from 1950 showed that consumers depend on meters from foreign countries. “We have seen Nigeria’s meter journey; the meters from 1950 to date, meters from Greece, Japan, Britain and China. This has shown that how our industry totally depends on meters from foreign countries. “But now, we are beginning to see meters from local manufacturers like Mojec and Moman; that is a good place to be. “At present, we have over 100 million telephone subscribers in Nigeria, but let me ask you, how many telephones are made in Nigeria? “We spend millions of naira to buy telephone from China and still we will go back and borrow money from China. “So, we want to change that in the meter industry; we are happy that some Nigerians are manufacturing meter in Nigeria and we promise to support them,” he said. He added that the National Meter Test, under Nigerian Electricity Management Service Agency (NEMSA) was to test the accuracy of meters before installation. According to him, the accuracy tests are in two steps, so that the DISCOs will not cheat consumers and consumers do not cheat DISCOs. The minister reiterated the FG’s plan to roll out meters to Nigerian consumers soon. He said: “We plan to roll out meters, and we must”. The Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of NEMSA and Chief Electrical Inspector of the Federation, Mr Peter Ewesor, said all meters being used by the DISCOs passed through the centre before installation. According to him, it is not possible for the meters that passed through the centre to shortchange consumers. (NAN) Source: (NAN) ...

Aftermath Of Fire Incident Reported By Gas Processing Company : Tcn , Gencos Working To Restore Operation Of National Grid …We urge members of the public to bear with us as we work to overcome this set back which should be temporary- MINISTRY Regrettably, after a sustained period of increasing production and distribution of power since September 2017 to date, the Nigerian Gas Processing and Transportation Company Ltd (NGPTC) has reported a fire incident on its Escravos Lagos Pipeline System near Okada, Edo State on Tuesday, 2nd January, 2018. The incident requires a shutdown of the pipeline supplying gas to Egbin 1,320MW; Olorunsogo NIPP 676MW, Olorunsogo 338MW, Omotosho NIPP 450MW, Omotosho 338 MW and Paras 60MW power stations. The sudden loss of generation due to interruption in gas supply from these stations caused the national transmission grid to trip off around 20:20 on 2nd January 2018. The national transmission grid is owned and operated by the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN). Most of Nigeria's power generation is from thermal power stations that require gas for fuel. The gas is produced by oil and gas companies overseen by the Ministry of Petroleum Resources. The gas is delivered to the power stations through pipelines owned and operated by Nigerian Gas Processing and Transportation Company Ltd (NGPTC), a subsidiary of Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC). TCN and the generation companies are working to restore operation of the national grid. Once the national grid is restored output from the hydroelectric power stations and all other unaffected gas fired thermal power stations will be increased to the extent possible to minimize the impact of loss of generation from the affected power stations while NNPC takes necessary steps to restore gas supply. We urge members of the public to bear with us as we work to overcome this set back which should be temporary. Signed: MINISTRY OF POWER, WORKS AND HOUSING ...

NEMSA Embarks On A Nationwide Technical Monitoring And Evaluation Of Primary 33kv Feeder Lines With Associated 33/11kv Injection Substations The Nigerian Electricity Management Services Agency (NEMSA) has commenced a Nationwide Technical Monitoring and Evaluation of the primary 33KV feeder lines and associated 33/11KV injection substations with supply source from 330/132/33KV transmission substations. The exigency of the exercise is to identify constraints militating against quick realization of the Federal Government’s policy and efforts for sustainability of the incremental, steady and uninterrupted power supply as they are achieved through the 33KV primary feeder lines to the 33/11KV injection substations and subsequently through the 11KV feeder lines and associated distribution transformers and finally to the consumers. Also this is to identify the high risk and technical loss points along the 33KV feeder lines. Again this is to enable NEMSA find out the causes/reasons for load rejection by the DisCos and to make recommendations for dealing with identified issues/challenges. Engr. Peter O. Ewesor, the MD/CEO NEMSA & Chief Electrical Inspector of the Federation, while on one of the inspections, said “the importance of the exercise cannot be overemphasized in light of the spate of the increasing number of electrical accidents and incidents, power failures/outages at the downstream-of the power value chain (power distribution networks) even when there is a huge increase in power generation in the grid system”. The exercise, which commenced on the 18th of October, 2017, has so far covered Abuja, Ikeja, Kano, Benin, Port Harcourt, Kaduna and Enugu DisCo’s networks and the exercise is still ongoing. Furthermore, Engr. Ewesor said “the exercise will identify high risk defective networks that pose serious threat and danger to operators’ operational staff and the general public for immediate attention and correction/rectification by respective DisCos and TCN.  Therefore, the importance and the expected positive impact of this National Technical Monitoring and Evaluation exercise which is part fulfilment of NEMSA’s mandate cannot be overemphasized. During the exercise, some of the DisCos were given immediate order to effect rectification of the defects and lack of procedures that were observed. ...