One hundred and thirty-six million Nigerians are in total blackout buoyed by lack of access to power from the electricity grid, PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) said yesterday. The remaining 34 million are also battling with epileptic supply caused by the off-grid energy access approach of the policymakers, the report entitled: “Electricity beyond the grid: accelerating access to sustainable power for all” revealed.
With an estimation of 170 million population in Nigeria, the PwC estimate shows that only one in five people has access to power from the electricity grid in the Africa’s most populous nation.
“To achieve universal access to electricity, current approach to off grid electricity needs to be changed,” the PwC report revealed. “The time is right for policymakers in Nigeria to reappraise their approach to energy access,” the study added.
“There are currently 634 million people without electricity in Africa and in Nigeria we estimate that only one in five people have access to power from the electricity grid.
“On current trends, two-thirds of the world’s population will remain without electricity by 2030, which is the target year to achieve the newly agreed post-2015 UN Sustainable Development Goal of universal access to energy,” the report stated, adding, a “new approach is needed that better recognises the part that off-grid technology can play.”
Partner and lead, Power & Utilities, PwC Nigeria, Pedro Omontuemhen, said: “For the millions of people who don’t currently have access to electricity, the old assumption that they will have to wait for grid extensions is being turned on its head by new technological possibilities.
There are currently 634 million people without electricity in Africa and in Nigeria we estimate that only one in five people has access to power from the electricity grid.
“This leaves four in five people living in urban and rural communities having to fend for themselves with makeshift and localised power solutions. Faster progress is needed, and we believe it can be achieved if national energy policies adopt a more comprehensive approach to energy access, embracing the new starting points for energy provided by standalone renewable technology and mini-grids.”
Current electrification strategies tend to focus on national grid extension plans. Instead, Olumide Adeosun, Associate Director in the firm’s advisory practice said: “It is critical that Nigerians take steps to understand and embrace the new starting points for energy provided.
