Managing Director of Total Exploration and Production Nigeria Limited, Mr. Nicolas Terraz, has bemoaned the fact that not up to 50% of electricity produced in Nigeria is monetised. Terraz said this at a panel session at the just concluded Nigerian Gas Association (NGA), International Conference and Exhibition in Abuja.
He said: “You cannot talk about domestic gas in Nigeria without talking about the power sector. If you look at the Aggregate Technical, Commercial and Collection losses, it is over 58 per cent. It means, in effect, that the power that is produced, which is less than 5,000 megawatts, not up to 50 per cent of it is monetised.”
“If you do not monetise the power that is produced, how are you going to pay, let alone the issue of cost-reflective tariff? Even at today’s tariff, you are not monetising up to 50 per cent of the power that is produced, how do you want to pay for gas and pay for all the supporting infrastructure?”
“I think beyond developing additional infrastructure, we need to look at even the operations of the power plants. I was looking at the NERC report, most of the plants are running at 20 per cent of their installed capacity. This has nothing to do with infrastructure.”
Source: Vanguard