Aggreko, a global leader in providing rental power, temperature control and compressed air systems to companies around the world said it is in talks to partner five electricity Distribution Companies, DISCOs, in Nigeria for the provision of embedded power.
It said the five electricity distribution companies are yet to be disclosed as discussions are still ongoing.
It explained that embedded power generation is a situation, where a generator is directly connected to the distribution network. It consists of smaller or modular generators that use a variety of generation technologies such as solar, wind, biomass, diesel, fuel oils, crude oil and small hydro.
The company informed that it is also a useful means of dedicating power to state and local government, eligible customers and others.
Regional Managing Director of Aggreko, David Taylor-Smith disclosed this to newsmen in Lagos that the company is willing to partner with the 11 DISCOs in the country about embedded power solution as it is an exciting opportunity.
According to Taylor-Smith, “There are three markets in Africa, where we set up permanent businesses to keep equipment in the country and our team of engineers and that is Nigeria, South Africa and Kenyan.
“We chose these countries because their economies are bigger and also we think that there is demand for power and a demand on the kind of way we provide power.
“We think that the most exciting opportunities in the whole of Africa is Nigeria because there is a big demand for power and also because we provide power in the oil and gas industry.
“We have been working here for a number of years but we have been doing it on a project basis. The important thing now is that all of our team got equipment in-country.
“We have Nigerian engineers and any time they need more equipment it is quite easy because they keep those equipment mobile anywhere in the world.
“So if there is a need for more power and there is an emergency, we put the power on quickly. Like next door country, Benin we are about to put 15megawatts on and they ask for it two months ago and we are going to put it on next month.
“We think there are lots of opportunities to provide captive power and this happens when a company comes to us and tell us they have been using power from the national grid but they want reliable power, then we put on power on site which could be 10 or 20 megawatts.”
Smith said that Aggreko has its manufacturing company in Scotland but already exist in 28 African countries including Nigeria providing about 1.3 gigawatts of electricity across the continent stressing that there are no quick fix to power problem but reforming the sector is the way forward which he said that government has put in place.
He stated that Africa with special focus on Nigeria is a potential market with its successful power reform, which must be backed with the right regulatory frame work so that people will know the prices they are charged for adding that the regulated tariffs are less than the cost of production.
Also commenting, Aggreko’s Managing Director, Nigeria, Mr. Alaba Owoyemi said,
“In 2005 we have about 20 megawatts in Abuja, which was in partnership with Geometric Power, and we have also done some jobs with oil companies like Shell and Mobil.
“At present we are supporting the manufacturing sector, most of the manufacturing companies are depending on us.
“In the area of challenges that we are facing, it is not different from what other multinationals are facing. We are having some complex issues with our import processes.
”So what I am saying is that we are having some issues which is out of our control, Nigeria importing system is so complex and the regulatory frame work is not really friendly. We are all aware that we are still reforming the power sector; we hope to be there very soon.
“Another area of challenge is stability because a lot of things are happening in the country and as an investor you cannot really make up your mind because you are not sure of the future.
“In summary our challenges is not totally different from what other companies are going through but the opportunities far outweigh the challenges, which is peculiar to all emerging market”, Owoyemi stressed.
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Aggreko to partner 5 DISCOs
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