By Lateef Adegbite
When President Bola Tinubu, sent a message to foreign investors in all the countries visited over the last seven months and other Nigerian investors that Nigeria is ready and open for business not many people took him serious. This is because former Nigerian Presidents had promised to address the country’s epileptic power supply to attract investors which was never fulfilled.
President Muhammadu Buhari, the immediate past Nigerian President had signed a deal with the German Electricity Company, Siemens Energy AG, to speed up the delivery of power projects that will deliver reliable electricity to homes and business in the country but that was how far he could go.
The failure of the Buhari’ Administration to effectively address the power sector may have informed why Tinubu had declared from the onset ‘’ to bring solutions to the multifarious challenges noticeable in the county’s power sector value chain’’. The Nigerian President who had emphasized the need to embrace Siemens technology to enhance the country’s electricity production, transmission and distribution may have opened the door-way for more electricity Companies to invest in the Nigerian power sector.
In Keeping with Tinubu’s promise to boost the nation’s industrial sector, by increasing investment in the nation’s power sector, on Thursday, January 18, 2024, Abuja Electricity Distribution plc, AEDC, under the Chairmanship of Stanley Lawson signed a tripartite Agreement with Daybreak Power Solutions Limited ( Daybreak Power, and the Wood Factory Limited, to further consolidate its lead in the provision of integrated power solutions and pioneer the delivery of its first -grid-connected and solar hybrid power solution for Commercial and industrial customers in Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, and other parts of Nigeria, the most populous African country.
The signing of the tripartite power Agreement between AEDC, Daybreak Power Solutions Limited, and the Abuja Wood Factory appears to be coming on the heels of the first interconnected mini-grid power solution for Communities in Nigeria that was said to have been launched by the company and its strategic partners in Toto, Nasarawa state, in north central geo-political region in November 2023.
Going by the tripartite power Agreement between the three parties, AEDC, which has made a name for itself in Abuja and its environs, was said to have agreed ‘’to provide 18 hours of uninterruptible power supply to the Wood Factory, described in the Manufacturing Association of Nigeria, MAN, circles , as one of the top Furniture manufacturing Companies in Nigeria, while Daybreak Power will provide six hours of solar powered electricity to the factory , meaning that the Abuja Wood Factory would be enjoying an uninterruptible 24 hours power supply from the two service providers.
Many believe that the two power companies are leveraging on their interconnected power facilities ‘’to deliver seamless electricity supply at greater value to the Customers’’. The integrated power solution facility, according to an sider is expected to yield an estimated 44% reduction energy costs and an impressive 76% annual increase in carbon transmissions for the Wood Factory.
A company source described the AEDC tripartite Agreement with Daybreak Power Solutions Limited and the Abuja Wood Factory as part of its unique offering transformational strategic objective of redefining customers’ experience by providing reliable electricity supply to both existing and new customers, including the unserved and underserved customers.
There I no gain saying the fact that under the ongoing transformation of AEDC, the Management of the company appears to have sent a message to other competitors in the nation’s Power Distribution Companies, DISCOS, that its repositioning as a clear Leader in the country’s power sector has come to stay.
Christopher Ezeafulukwe, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, CEO, AEDC, who was so excited about the tripartite power Agreement with Daybreak Power Solutions Limited and the Abuja Wood Factory had said that ‘’the company will take advantage of the great opportunities that the transformation and turnaround of the company has brought ‘’to serve its customers, both new and existing ones in more delightful ways’’.
The AEDC , CEO, was emphatic that the transformation and repositioning of the company was a product of its consistent questioning of the status quo in the resilient push of the Management conviction and belief in using diversified energy sources to serve the customers better, while closing the gap in the country’s electricity supply market.
In a related development, the AEDC, was said to have also established a good working relationship with the Rocky Mountain Institute, RMI, though which the North American country of the United States , US, Trade and Development Agency, USTDA, provides funding for feasibility study grant and facilitating the optimization of energy supply through distributed solar energy and grid power.
Jasper Graf Von Hardenberg, CEO, Daybreak Power, who could not hide his excitement about the innovative interconnected solar installation had said that ‘’working together with AEDC and other DISCOS , in Nigeria, will provide reliable and affordable electricity supply to Nigerian businesses’’, noting that ‘’it will save on energy costs to reinvest in their operations’’.
He noted that Daybreak partnership with AEDC supports this position of interconnected solar installation from the onset, stressing that the company is looking forward ‘’to developing more hybrid solar projects for C&I customers in partnership with the Nigerian power company’’.
Mohamed Akar, a Director and General Manager, of the Abuja Wood Factory , which is the benefitting company of the power project deal had said that ‘’the Factory’s transition from self-generated electricity supply to the integrated power supply which AEDC and Daybreak currently offers’’ to its operations is to it advantage , as ‘’it switches to a reliable integrated power solution to power its plants with ease.
Hear him: For many years, we have operated on diesel -run-generators, describing it as hardly sustainable or affordable. The Abuja Wood Factory Director is optimistic that with the partnership with AEDC and Daybreak Power Solution Limited, ‘’the future of the company looks brighter’’.
He has every reason to be happy. This is because AEDC which is one of the leading Electricity Distribution companies in Nigeria currently serving the FCT, which currently has Nyensom Wike, a former governor of Rivers state as the minister, including Niger, Nasarawa and Kogi, all three north central states is keeping to its mandate.
Ezeafulukwe, the Managing Director AEDC, may have given his words to the Management of the Abuja Wood Factory that they have no cause to worry about sustainability of the electricity supply to the company, stating that as a service provider,’’ it is dedicated to ensuring reliable, safe and sustainable electricity delivery to its diverse customers in its areas of operations’’.
He averred that with the strong commitment to serving its customers better, AEDC, would continue ‘’to contribute to the growth and development of Nigeria’s energy sector through investments in infrastructure, innovative technologies and sustainable practices’’, to promote efficient energy usage and active engage with its host communities.
