Two years ago, the Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu unveiled the ‘Lagos State Electricity Policy’, a policy developed by the ministry and geared towards providing reliable, affordable, and uninterrupted power supply to Lagos residents.
In this interview with DIPO OLADEHINDE, the Commissioner for Lagos State Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources, Olalere Odusote, speaks on the new electricity policy and the progress that it will enable for the residents of the state. Excerpts:
If Lagos was a country, it would be Africa’s seventh-richest economy, yet on its best days, it gets only 10 percent of the power it needs, while its inhabitants rely on self-generation often from dirty generators to plug the gap. How are you solving this energy deficit?
The existing centrally controlled national electricity sector, is plagued with multiple challenges and since its inception has been unable to deliver reliable electricity to Nigerians. Lagos State is allocated about 25 percent of national grid-connected electricity which is grossly inadequate for the State’s increasing population and economic activities, hence the dependence on fragmented off-grid electricity sources across the State.
In addressing this existing dysfunction within national electricity, the Lagos State Government has taken active steps towards the attainment of electricity reliability for its residents. We have made major progress towards instituting a legal and regulatory framework for the establishment of a viable Lagos State Electricity market that caters fully to the needs of its residents.
Alongside this, the Lagos State Government has developed a comprehensive Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) which outlines the framework to meet present and future electricity demand in the State in the short, medium and long term and details the most efficient and least cost method for the Lagos Electricity Market to meet the electricity demand of Lagosians in an environmentally responsible and policy-compliant manner.
The Lagos State IRP, first of its type to be prepared by the State government for state-level planning purposes, seeks to increase the overall energy security for Lagos State and provide guidance for development planning for the next 20 years to meet an anticipated 400percent increase in peak electricity demand by 2040.
By providing a 20-year outlook, the IRP will facilitate investments in the state electricity sector and ensure that the State Government makes the best short, medium and long- term energy decisions for the State and its residents whilst also providing us with the flexibility to adapt to changes in electricity demand and adopt new sustainable technologies as they become available.
These initiatives, developed in collaboration with industry stakeholders, are expected to foster investment in the industry towards improved infrastructure to drive wider access to reliable supply, reduced dependency on pollutive backup generation and ultimately reduce cost of living and doing business in Lagos.
Lagos State Government announced its putting in place measures that would see it take away the regulation of the state’s electricity from the Nigerian Electricity Regulation Commission (NERC). What is the current update?
In December 2021, the State Government published the Lagos State Electricity Policy which articulates the vison of the state to create a viable Lagos electricity market. That policy details the legal and commercial framework necessary for the establishment of the market.
This has been followed with a draft Electricity Bill, which formally establishes a State electricity market, and amongst other objectives, establishes the basis for decentralising the electricity distribution sector in Lagos State and making it more competitive, with the aim of ensuring access by, and provision of service to, the unserved and underserved communities of Lagos State.
This draft Bill went through a rigorous process of consultation and drafting by key sector stakeholders before being considered and approved by the State Executive Council and thereafter submitted to the State House of Assembly.
We expect that the draft Bill will be passed before June 2023. While the Bill is going through the legislative process, we are actively engaging with various government stakeholders, to sensitise them on our plans, seek their feedback and modify our legal/regulatory and commercial frameworks for the State electricity market where required to ease the transition from FG regulation to State regulation.
Is there a possibility for off-grid solutions in Lagos state?
Certainly, there is significant potential for off-grid solutions in Lagos State. The Lagos State Government, via its Off-grid Electrification Strategy and Action Plan published in 2022, has set a target to achieve ~1GW of Solar Photovoltaic (PV) generation by 2030. This includes electrifying 1.6 million households (36 percent of households in Lagos) by 2030 through Off-grid solutions as part of its electrification plan.
We are also collaborating with the World Bank towards facilitating off-grid investments and driving the penetration of renewable energy in the State.
What milestones have you achieved since you resume office as commissioner of energy and mineral resources?
Milestones achieved, specifically related to the power sector, includes the following:
Policy Development toward unlocking the Lagos State Electricity Sector: The Lagos State Electricity Policy, published on 8th December 2021, articulates the vision of LASG on the constitutional, legal, engineering, and commercial foundations for creating a viable sub-national electricity sector that caters fully to the needs of its citizens while enabling significant socio-economic growth and development both for Lagos State and the country at large.
The Lagos State Off-grid Electrification Strategy & Action Plan published in 2022, is intended to drive the penetration of renewable energy in the State and achieve the LASG target to unlock 1GW Solar PV power generation by 2030 target.
The Lagos State Integrated Resource Plan published in 2022 outlines a framework to meet present and future electricity demand in the State (fuel, generation, transmission and distribution infrastructure requirement) in the short, medium and long term.
The proposed Lagos State Electricity Bill 2022, approved by the Lagos State Executive Council in 2022 and is currently being reviewed by the State House of Assembly.
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Community Electrification Program – Working with the Electricity Distribution Companies in Lagos (EKEDC & IE), we took significant steps towards unlocking infrastructure constraints to deliver improved power supply to high-impact, high-population, low-income communities in the State.
Pilot implementation of Power Infrastructure upgrade at target low-income communities in Lagos – Alimosho, Orelope, Agege, Oko-Oba, Ibeju Lekki (Ajah-Eleko-Magbon).
Provision of 20,000 units of Smart Prepaid Energy Meters for target low-income communities in Lagos (Alimosho and Ibeju Lekki).
Hospital Power Improvement Program – we implemented a two-phased prioritized power project (including power infrastructure upgrade and deployment of solar solution) towards optimising power supply to healthcare facilities in Lagos and consequently ensuring improved healthcare delivery to Lagosians.
Improvement of power supply at thirteen (13) General Hospitals from an average of 8 hours daily electricity supply to 20 hours.
Successfully deployed of pilot solar solution at Mushin General Hospital; during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, we deployed 47 small Solar Home Systems to identified Primary Healthcare Centres and 110 frontline workers in partnership with Solar Home System Companies operating in Lagos State. Also deployed solar systems to 9 emergency facilities across the State.
Public Schools Power Improvement Program – we implemented upgrade of electricity infrastructure in public schools towards enhancing the learning experience and safety of the students.
Upgrade of electrification infrastructure of 3 model colleges in Lagos State – connected the schools to the national grid after 5 years of disconnection and provided solar lighting in the school environment.
Streetlight Retrofit Program -Rejuvenation of 1200km of public lighting across Lagos – replacement/revamp of non-functional streetlights and retrofitting to LED lights towards achieving optimal efficiency of Public Lighting.
Deployment of Operations Control Command Centre – we deployed a robust and integrated Modern Power System Monitoring Tool – Operations Command Centre, an interface for real-time live monitoring of critical energy infrastructure in the State to facilitate improved government service delivery and ensure reliability and informed decision making through effective supervision, control and management.
Lagos Solar Program – Lagos Solar is an initiative of LASG focused on implementing embedded solar power solutions for public facilities.
Completed rehabilitation and maintenance of solar systems at 175 public secondary schools and 11 Primary Health Centres across the State.
Local Capacity Building – Lagos Smart Meter Hackathon, an initiative of this administration that seeks to leverage local capacities and build local capabilities and manpower to drive the future of energy in Lagos.
Launched the Lagos Smart Meter Hackathon for the local design and production of affordable meters to increase meter penetration in the State leveraging local capacity towards improving electricity distribution and monitoring. Following the conclusion of the Hackathon event and selection of a final affordable metering solution, a prototype design has been completed for production.
What have been your major challenges so far?
The major challenges have been navigating the cumbersome regulatory policy/framework that currently exists in the electricity industry and managing the various interests of stakeholders across the value chain.
What are your thoughts on the power sector reforms?
Akin to prior power sector reforms undertaken by the Federal Government, the current power sector reforms, specifically the recently enacted Senate Electricity Bill, vis-à-vis the current state of the Nigerian electricity market does not provide an optimal solution to the pressing challenges of the electricity sector.
While the current reform via the Senate Electricity Bill, takes the very important step of expressly recognising the constitutional reality of State electricity markets, it paradoxically maintains the same policy of Federal Government’s overreach in the electricity sector (by essentially restating the extant Electric Power Sector Reform Act, 2005 and re-establishing the same single national electricity market that extends into the distribution sector) that in the past 18 years has not yielded capacity growth nor socio-economic development to the country and does not provide for a bankable commercial framework that guarantees economic sustainability of the sector.
