“Nigeria is taking charge of its energy future— Ade Yesufu

“Nigeria is taking ownership of its power deficit and is taking charge of its energy future” says Future Energy Nigeria’s business development director Ade Yesufu.

Yesufu who made this statement in respect of the 12-13 November 2019 Future Energy conference in Lagos added that, “and the new initiatives by the Government present unlimited opportunities for stakeholders across the entire power sector value chain, including metering, billing and revenue collection, technology and service providers, financiers, manufacturers and suppliers across the sector. Nigeria is positioning itself as an investment destination for the power sector. We’re excited.”
The conference and exhibition in Lagos in November presents solutions for the power sector and connects power and energy professionals working together to advance a sustainable energy economy.

Looking to innovation solutions
“With the highest GDP in Africa and still growing at an impressive rate” explains Mr Yesufu, ”businesses across Nigeria are looking to innovative solutions to create their own stable and viable power solutions. Investments in mini grids contribute towards rural electrification and the Meter Asset Provider (MAP) initiative was introduced by the Nigerian Energy Regulatory Commission (NERC) to address the end-user metering gap with regards to financing, procurement, installation, servicing/maintenance and replacement of metering equipment.

He adds: “Future Energy Nigeria will focus on bridging the country’s energy access gap, the role of off-grid generation projects as well as discuss the NERC initiative to franchise the Electricity Distribution Companies (DisCos) in Nigeria. The goal is to increase competitiveness in the market and improve the quality of electricity supply through investment in metering, billing, collection and network rehabilitation and expansion.”

The 16th edition of this longstanding, leading conference and exhibition will take place at the Eko Hotel in Lagos from 12-13 November 2019.

Conference session highlights at Future Energy Nigeria include:

• Opening Session: “Bridging Nigeria’s energy access gap”
  This session will shine a light on the off-grid projects of the Rural Electrification Authority; from increasing access rates to their positive impact in the communities.
  
• Recapitalisation of DisCos?
  – Can the recapitalisation theory work in practice?
  – Panel discussion: What will recapitalisation achieve for the Nigeria power industry?
  
• Next steps: Understanding sub-franchising of DisCos’ operations
  – Presentation: Where are the private sector opportunities in the distribution franchising business model?
  – Country case study: How will a concessional agreement in Ghana realise increased revenue collection? What can Nigeria learn from the agreement?
  – Panel discussion: Franchising arrangements in the areas of supply, metering, billing and collection

Solar off-grid and IPU training
Future Energy Nigeria’s free and very practical Knowledge Hub sessions at on the exhibition floor aim to assist power professionals and senior engineering students to become familiar with the latest technology and current trends and thereby addressing the skills gap and advancing capacity building to propel Nigeria’s power sector. The training will provide a platform to accelerate entrepreneurial spirit in off-grid solar where participants can roll up their sleeves and get stuck in the “A-Z of installing solar panels”.

The Knowledge Hub will also focus on the challenges of industrial power users, including discussions on solutions for mitigating against increased costs of electricity and intermittent power.

Leading industry partners and suppliers Jubaili Bros and Greenville LNG are early confirmed, returning gold and silver sponsors respectively. The exhibition is expected to feature some 70+ leading global and local technology and services providers for the power and energy industry, including country pavilions from South Africa and India.

Thermal power plant site visit
This year’s Future Energy Nigeria offers the unique opportunity again to go behind the scenes at a thermal power plant as part of a technical site visit tour at the Egbin Power Plant. An affiliate of the indigenous energy conglomerate, the Sahara Group, the company operates one of the largest thermal power plants in sub-Saharan Africa and contributes over 10% of the total electricity generated to the Nigerian National Grid. This makes it the heartbeat of power and the largest provider of electricity to Africa’s largest economy.

Utility CEO Forum: West Africa
During Future Energy Nigeria, the Utility CEO Forum: West Africa will also gather the region’s power leaders, including DisCos, GenCos and IPPs, for closed meetings that are by invitation only and facilitated under Chatham House Rules, to collaborate and focus on unique in-country challenges.

Future Energy Nigeria is organised by Spintelligent, a multi-award-winning Cape Town-based exhibition and conference producer across the continent in the infrastructure, energy and mining sectors.