Re: Africa at the coalface of development (2)

For balance, I have to state the obvious in the case of the natural gas-fired power plants. Nigeria has abundant deposits of gas which it has unfortunately and quite inexplicably been unable to develop and harness. Development of gas fields and processing the output has always been an expensive and technically challenging activity.

In this case a disproportionately large part of the cost structure is for offshore-based engineering activity and (eventually) lightly manned processing equipment, i.e., far fewer jobs. The likes of General Electric and Nuovo Pignone and others are the major beneficiaries of the requisite large capital outlay. . .

In contrast, for the design and delivery of coal-fired power plants, it is possible in the short term to develop some sizeable local capability. This should include coal handling and preparation (crushing, slurrying and pumping), boiler design, fabrication and repair (including the relevant physical metallurgy for material specification, welding & inspection), and feed pump and steam piping design & installation.

In addition, we would expect our engineers to be involved in all aspects of condenser design and fabrication, sizing and specifications for forced convection fans & motors, cooling water pumps and airflow & water mixing baffles. The highly visible retaining structures common to all big thermal power plants are essentially reinforced structural concrete which should hold no mysteries for Nigerian engineers. We have been involved in constructing some dams here.

We do not exactly lack high-end manpower. I must mention only one name here, Josephat Okoye of Water & Dam Services. After UC Berkeley, he is said to have cut his teeth over four decades ago in the jungles of Irian Jaya, Papua New Guinea during the construction of the then most prolific copper-gold mining and processing operation in the world by Freeport Inc.

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I nearly collapsed when I read two years ago that a certain minister of state (Power) publicly admonished Dr Okoye and argued with him over the delivery schedule for the Mambilla Hydroelectric project. This minister’s outburst is akin to my presuming to offer an opinion to the late Albert Einstein on the finer points of the Theory of Relativity. The very ignorant are truly much braver than the rest of us. That is why we are the way we are. It is also on record that no outsiders constructed the controversial cooling tower units at Pyongbon in North Korea. 

Various levels of coal pollution abatement techniques and technologies are competitively available from more mature economies worldwide. If need be, these can be grafted onto our own indigenous planning processes. While we unavoidably pollute just a little, the advanced economies will and should continue to advance the frontiers of CO2 capture and re-injection. They owe that much to the survival of the global ecosystem, having been polluting unchecked for the past 400 years!

On the other hand, in the next two decades, I do not expect my professional colleagues (and our children) to make much of a dent in the business of ultra high speed and high temperature gas turbines, which is actually next to rocket science for which we have to date shown no interest. In this business, coal-fired power plants remain the low hanging fruits which we must pluck first.

Just about anybody in government who can read glibly talks about alternative energy sources, solar, wind and often biomass. Others will add wave and geo-thermal. My advice at this stage of our (under)development is to stay close to these scientific developments so as to be able to jump on board in the future when it will finally make sense for us to do so. Even now, there are a few niche applications where alternative energy is the only available option. Anyone who disagrees with this should kindly show us where in the world a steel rolling mill and/or an aluminium smelting plant is run on the so-called renewable energy that is not hydro. I rest my case.

With the clueless gerontocrats who studied History, Classics and Greek philosophy still hanging around offering technical advice to this and previous governments, it is clear that my generation of technocrats (can I really claim that?), who are not getting any younger, may die out without the opportunity to make any meaningful contribution to the development of this nation. It is so sad sounding as if one is looking for a job. Perish the thought! For our own sanity, there is so much many of us can do for free for this our Nigeria. Time is running out. There is general agreement that if we take care of electrical power a whole lot of things will fall into place.

One parting shot. I have just learnt from one of the news networks that the current power supply woes of South Africa’s ESKOM are being eased by import of 200mW from Namibia of all places. Will Nigeria be able to achieve self-sufficiency and comfortably export power to our neighbours in my lifetime? I wonder.

Oduche Azih