Dissecting REA’s off-grid market electrification
The Rural Electrification Agency (REA) has began projects to provide off-grid power systems to four markets across the East, North and Western parts of Nigeria with 50 per cent of these projects concentrated in Lagos State. in this piece analyses a survey of those sites to be covered by REA and what it takes to achieve the task.
Abaseline survey and energy audit was conducted by the Rural Electrification Agency (REA) in September 2017 across four economic clusters: Ariaria Market in Abia State, Sabon Gari Market in Kano State, Somolu Printing Community and Sura Shopping Complex in Lagos State.
The report obtained by our reporter shows the objective of REA intervening in solving the energy deficiency crisis rocking the country through its OffGrid Electrification Strategy (OES). It has started implementing the projects across the four markets in its Energy Economies.
While it deploys gas-based electricity for three markets, Kano’s Sabon Gari Market will get power through solar technology.
Solving energy crisis at markets
A breakdown of how the energy crisis affecting the over 50,900 shops and a customer base of over two million Nigerians will be tackled was provided in the survey report. The total energy demand for all 50,900 shops is 36.27MW, with Somolu having the highest demand of 32MW and Sura Shopping Complex having the lowest demand of 0.83MW.
At the Sabon Gari Market, the survey identified 1.38 megawatts (mw) current energy demand with an estimated total demand of 3.29mw. REA has recommended deploying just 1mw decentralised Solar Home Systems (SHS) to tackle the 1.38mw energy load requirement without any backup generator or a complementary power solution.
The market is relatively the biggest market in the North with over 13,000 shops. It is managed by Amalgamated Traders’ Welfare Association (AMATA). The market which was built in 1914 covers 22 hectares with over 13,000 shops. Breakdown of load requirement shows that the traders use 0.56mw for lighting, 0.72mw for cooling and 0.09mw for other appliances.
The 250 traders surveyed said they spent about N10,000 monthly on electricity and another N20,000 on generator expenses communally in an arrangement called maja, where they paid from N200 above for eight hours.
Blocks C and D and Yan Kura areas of the market were noted to have the highest consumption due to the density of shops.
It noted that most of the shop owners and traders were willing to pay for a less expensive, reliable and cleaner alternative power supply. Despite this, the proposed 1mw of solar power is less than the 1.38mw energy requirement noted by the same report; there is no generator backup or inverter system to store power or guarantee supply.
With a deficit in the solar solution being provided, the idea of powering more cooling or heating devices; especially for cold drink traders, electrical and electronics lines, poultry traders and fishery in the market could be at stake.
Ariaria International Market in Aba has 2.06mw current demand and a total demand of 6.67mw. The agency decided on providing a 5mw Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) power plant and a 2mw backup generator in the first phase. Its 11 sections have over 31,000 shops with trading activities ranging from clothing and shoe production, printing to fabrication of tools and mechanical parts.
The market is managed by Ariaria International Market Traders’ Association (AIMATA). Its energy load breakdown shows that 0.96mw is for lighting, 0.86mw is for cooling and 0.25mw for other energy needs.
Most of the 556 traders surveyed said they spent up to N7,000 monthly on electricity, and about N8,000 monthly on generator expenses. They said they were willing to spend less on electricity that was being provided by REA.
The Somolu Printing Community in Lagos has about 32mw current demand across its six zones. It is the largest hub of commercial printing in Nigeria with eight zones under the Association of Professional Printers of Nigeria (ASSPPON). The printers dedicate 4mw of their 32mw energy load to lighting, 7mw for cooling and 21mw for other purposes that include printing.
About 250 of the printers said they spent over N120,000 monthly on electricity from the DisCo and another N1m on generator expenses. 450 other residents said they spent about N45,000 on grid electricity and N300,000 on generators.
To address this energy shortage in the first phase, REA plans a 5mw natural gas power plant to cover the 4.73mw energy load of printers in Zones 2 and 4.The solution REA is providing is a natural gas power plant with a backup of a diesel generator.
The Sura Shopping Complex in Lagos has 1,047 shops managed by the Association of Shop Owners in Sura Complex Lagos (ASOSCL). It has 0.83mw current demand and about 1.5mw estimated total demand. A breakdown of energy usage reveals that 0.07mw goes for lighting, 0.48mw for cooling and 0.28mw for other appliances. About 200 traders surveyed said they spent N14,000 monthly on electricity and N40,000 on generators.
The planned solution is to connect the complex to an existing power plant which is about two kilometres away in the same Lagos Island; the excess capacity at the Island Power Plant will then power the shopping complex, REA said in the report.
Giving power supply to on-grid markets
The agency’s key objective is to bridge the gap in access to power across rural and off-grid areas. However, in the case of these projects, those places are already connected to on-grid from the various Distribution Companies (DisCos) and are in the city centres or township areas. For instance, Sabon Gari Market is serviced by the Kano Electricity Distribution Company (KEDCO).
For the Sabon Gari Market which energy load is meagre, at 1.38mw, the deployment of solar should be at least over 2mw and not limited to just 1mw.