A group of manufacturers in Nigeria have sought for the improvement of off-grid system as a panacea for the power crisis they are facing.
They are of the opinion that if topmost priority was given to the exploration of energy mix in the country and the re-classification of the manufacturing sector into strategic gas users, it would help to improve efficiency in the real sector.
While speaking on the their vision for 2018, the President of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), Frank Jacobs, said operators want government to support the efficiency of players in the power generation, transmission and distribution system.
According him, the manufacturers believed that going off-grid was part of measures to reduce production costs and enhance competitiveness in the manufacturing sector, noting that MAN was hoping to increase the number of its members on its own Independent Power Project (IPP) scheme.
In his words, the Co-ordinator, Manufacturers Power Development Company Limited, Oweh Mba-Sam, said that the company was set up by MAN to drive the process of ensuring that members would have regular power supply to tone up their operations.
Mba-Sam said: “Over the years, the power supply from the grid has been insufficient and, sometimes, of low quality, and doesn’t come when it is needed. Sometimes, it comes when the factories have closed. Therefore, it is not serving the purpose it is supposed to serve for most of the manufacturers”.
He added that the company was set to drive the process of developing power plants for the manufacturers in various segments of the economy as a way of boosting their efficiency.
Mba-Sam added that they had sought the co-operation of the regulatory authorities and they have their support. He was confident that by the end of 2018, MAN should be able to inaugurate the first few plants in line with the declaration of the Minister of Power, Works and Housing for incremental power.
