Review of electrical energy losses in Nigeria

The Nigerian electric power sector holds a lot of unfulfilled potentials for the economic development of Africa’s most populous country; the electric energy generated is not up to 30% of the national demand and worse still, over 50% of this paltry sum is recorded as losses—this is not indicative of commercial viability. The visible efforts being made to address the problems, though laudable, do not fully demonstrate complete appreciation of the underlying root causes. In this paper, an examination of the structure of the Nigerian electricity industry is provided followed by a technical review of factors responsible for the excessive losses (technical and non-technical) in the system. The solutions proffered would enable improved response, first to efficiently manage the available energy and also to grow the industry for the good of the nation.