Lagos mulls new electricity policy to drive economic growth
The Lagos State government is working to introduce a new electricity policy that will serve as a blueprint for the attainment of universal access to electricity and boost economic growth.
Lagos, Nigeria’s commercial nerve centre and economic hub, though said to be in need of about 10,000 megawatts of electricity, currently receives about 1,000 megawatts from the national grid, leaving the state whose population is estimated at over 21 million people with a huge deficit.
The state government over the years has had to embark on embedded power generated from its Independent Power Plants (IPPS) to power some key public institutions.
Under the policy, the state government plans to establish an autonomous regulatory agency that will license participants to undertake market monitoring and ensure that prices charged by market participants are cost-reflective and fair to end-users.
At a ministerial briefing on Tuesday, to mark the second anniversary of the Governor Babajide Sanwo- Olu’s administration, the commissioner for energy and mineral resources, Olalere Odusote said the policy will drive development towards a future where security and sustainability of electricity supply in Lagos is assured.
The state is considering an Integrated Resource Plan (IRP), developed along with USAID Power Africa Nigeria Power Sector Programme that will generate, transmit, and distribute power from both gas and renewable energy. This is expected to significantly contribute to the reduction of carbon emissions and raise the living conditions of Lagosians.
The policy will ensure that future electricity solutions are not only available but environmentally friendly with alternative power backup solutions.
According to Odusote, the electricity policy when it becomes functional and fully implemented will accelerate the “Light-up Lagos” power programme of the state government.
“The Lagos electricity policy is vital in achieving the T.H.E.M.E.S. agenda of this administration and will serve as a key driver for the social and economic development aspirations of the state in consonance with the government’s 30-year Development
Plan (2021-2051), currently being developed.”
Odusote also disclosed that Governor Sanwo-olu has approved the procurement and installation of 20,000 units of prepaid energy meters for communities in Lagos State as a way of improving electricity supply in the affected communities.
The state government, Odusote added, has concluded an arrangement with a leading smart metering solution company (Elsewedy Electric) on meter supply to low- income communities and also identified transmission infrastructure challenges across the state.
Odusote also recalled the launch of the Smart Hackathon 2020, with the aim to design, produce and massdistribute affordable and reliable smart meters in Lagos and the country at large.