By Oke Peter
The Minister of Power, Chief Adebayo Adelabu, has blamed the poor liquidity being experienced in the power sector on the eight million metering gap presently being experienced. This, he added, is why most of the Distribution Companies (DisCos) are unable to rake in enough revenue to stay afloat because over 50 per cent of electricity consumers are unmetered.
To this end, the Federal Government, the minister disclosed, has set a target of installing two million meters annually over the next four to five years. To achieve this, the minister said the government will be partnering with local manufacturers to making the equipment not own readily available, but to also ensure that the government’s target over the next four years is met.
Adelabu made this known during a working tour of MBH Meter Factory in Shagamu. MBH power is a total energy solution footprint in all segments of the power sector value chain. It also recently ventured into the Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) solution.
According to the Minister, MBH is a strategic partner in the realisation of the federal government’s aspiration to upgrade aged power sector infrastructures, including helping significantly to reduce the metering gap. He was emphatic that the “MBH meter factory is very strategic to the vision and the renewed hope agenda of the President” which in turn has influenced government’s decision to support local manufacturers through patronage in order to reduce pressure on foreign exchange and improve the economy.
“We have identified poor liquidity as another major issue with the smooth operation of the sector. At the foundation of this liquidity is metering which is what engenders collection by Discos.
“Less than 50 per cent of electricity consumption nationwide is metered and it has been like that for so long. Mr. President said we need to reverse this ugly trend and we must ensure that we get every household, every business, every institution, every industry metered over the next four to four years. The metering gap that we have, which is almost 8m meters, must be reduced significantly in the short to medium term and eliminated completely in the long term.
“This led to the establishment of the Presidential Metering Initiative being managed by the Presidential Metering Council of which I am the Chairman and we have a target to ensure that we ensure that we install a minimum of 2m meters annually over the next four to four years,” Adelabu said. He added that the World Bank is also supporting the metering initiative with about two million meters under the Distribution Sector Recovery Programme (DISREP).
The Managing Director, MBH Power, Rakesh Mahapatra, disclosed that the company has supplied more than 700,000 meters. He said the company has a capacity to produce 2,500 meters daily and 920,000 meters annually. He revealed that its meter factory was established in 2019, and has two assembly lines for one phase and another assembly line for three phase meter.
“We are also providing solar solutions in Nigeria. We have successfully installed solar solutions to many customers in Nigeria. Our warehouse is completely solar powered. We are also planning that our meter factory would be on solar supply,” he said.
