Nigeria can improve energy usage by 20 percent—Schneider Electric

Nigeria can improve her energy usage by about 20 percent through the application  of new energy management solutions  which could help improve electricity efficiency, reduce  operating  cost of industries, and check the environmental impact of energy production.

The energy management solutions would include products, solutions and services for buildings , Industries including electro-intensive industries in Oil&Gas sectors, Utilities, and Residential sectors. The products and solutions available range from simple low energy consumption devices, lighting control, motor control and metering to basic or complex solutions like power factor correction,  power management, monitoring and consultancy services.

The solutions which are the core value proposition of Schneider Electric, the global specialist in energy management allows consumers to monitor their energy consumption in their facilities and help them to identify those areas where they are experiencing waste so that they can reduce it or completely knock off such waste in their operations.

Georges El Mir, Country President of Schneider Electric International, in a presentation he made at the global headquarters of the company in Paris, France, last week to selected journalists from across the world who visited the facilities of the company during an Editors Forum, said Schneider Electric is well positioned to tackle the challenges on the grid which he listed as aging or outdated infrastructure, outages, highly consuming buildings and industries as well as oil based energy with volatile prices.

 “Electricity efficiency brought about by the solutions enables consumers to have clearer picture of the various consumption levels that are taking place at the different units or departments of the operational facilities of companies.  They can subsequently make decision on which units or departments they would want to improve energy usage, reduce waste thereby saving costs”, he said.

 The consumption he said can be measured in watts per square metres for buildings or watts per unit of production for industries, so that a comparative analysis of electricity consumption can be made with the aim of letting the consumer have an insight into the areas where there are low and higher consumptions so that he could redirect supply where necessary.

 A unique method that the company engages is the four-step Active/Passive Energy management method. It starts with an energy audit that reveals potential areas of improvement, then a “Fix the basics” step with the installation of low comsumption devices or power factor correction. The third step is optimising energy usage through automation and regulation with the use of lighting control, motor control and the final step is a monitoring and maintenance step to continually improve on the energy savings.At the end of this process, up to 30 percent improvement in energy usage is possible which means less 30 per cent in cost of energy spent.

The company as a global specialist in energy management, he stated is offering efficient, green, reliable, safe and sustainable energy. The energy management solutions would focus on modern and flexible distribution substations and feeders, demand –response software, energy plans for industries and energy efficiency plans for buildings.

 The Schneider Electric boss also said that the company has developed solar powered solutions to enable people at the bottom of the power pyramid to gain access to power. These solutions include Microsol, Villasol and In-diya. According to El Mir the solutions, depending on the specification deployed, could be used to power home appliances, carry out small economic activities as well as power water projects.

 The company in Nigeria has executed numerous large scale grid projects which include six units of 132 kv/33 kv transmission substations, several distribution substations and other facilities for  the  Federal and States Government. It also recently executed a solar power project in Durumi, Mpape, Abuja in conjunction with the Federal Ministry of Power as part of the Light Up Rural Nigeria initiatives.

Olusola Bello