The Senate Committee on Power and some representatives of a South Korean energy firm, BK Energy, yesterday brainstormed on lasting solutions to the challenge of incessant grid collapse in the country.
Committee Chairman Enyinnaya Abaribe (APGA, Abia South) told the company’s representatives that Nigeria and Nigerians desire an end to incessant grid collapse and epileptic power supply.
The committee chairman said this challenge had bedevilled the country for years due to deteriorating infrastructure and not the provision of new ones.
He told the potential investor in the energy sector that Nigeria requires modern infrastructure to overcome its generation output of 4,000 megawatts (MW) of electricity and to wheel same to power the country to the distribution channels.
“Our major concern as a committee and, by extension, as a people, is how to break the bond and bridge the yawning gap of insufficient power generation in the country.
“We want you to be very practical in your submission for us to buy into whatever new technology or idea you have brought, which should serve as solutions for us,” Abaribe said.
Haeagwoo Lee and Sangwoo Park, who spoke on behalf of the company, urged the Federal Government to adopt a mini-grid approach to end incessant national grid collapse.
Lee said South Korea, which has a population of about 50 million people, generates 130,000 MW of electricity that is not loaded on a single or national grid alone.
“There is a need for decentralisation when it comes to wheeling or transmission of power generation to avoid waste or incessant collapse.
“Nigeria is even a very lucky country where coconut is largely produced agriculturally, which can be converted to graphene for power generation, as done in South Korea.
“Coconut trees can also be used to build a generating plant in any neighborhood,” he said.
