By Ocheneyi Alli

The Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) has warned that a repeat of supplying substandard energy meters by foreign companies to the electricity distributions companies (DisCos) is about to happen again, as the contract prices and terms fixed by the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) doesn’t favour local meter manufacturers.

In a document, titled ‘ The National Mass Metering Programme (NMMP) Phase 11 World Bank Funded Scheme For The Supply and Installation of 1.250 million Smart Energy Meters To Eleven Electricity Distribution Companies In Energy BID: DREP-PPI, CREDIT NO: 9206-NG, PROJECT ID NO: P172891′, MAN said : ” We are deeply concerned over the impending displacement of local meter manufacturers and assemblers in the downstream of the power sector in the process of government’s implementation of the NMMP Phase II World Bank funded supply of 1.2 million smart energy meters.

” The advertised financial requirements and the technical specifications by the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) appears to be skewed against local manufacturers as they are outrageously stringent and negate the CBN guidelines for the implementation of National Mass Metering Programme (NMMP).

This is a federal government’s intervention in power sector to accelerate energy meter supply in the country to bridge the metering gap and ought to be in sync with our overall national economic development objectives.

The financial requirements and the technical specifications laid down by the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), has sidelined the local meter manufacturers from participating in the implementation of the contracts.

Segun Ajayi-Kadir, the Director-General of MAN, said : ” We warn that this portends grave danger for the power sector as we may be witnessing a repeat of the ugly scenario in 2012 when local manufacturers were sidelined in the meter supply and the nation was greeted with supply of substandard meters supplied by the foreign companies that were awarded the contract that were later removed from the network.”

He notes that despite the capacities and the track records of the local meter manufacturers and assemblers across the country (the like of Momas Systems Nigeria Limited; Mojec International Limited, etc) in the energy contracts executions , again they are being displaced in the implementation of the NMMP Phase 11 contracts by the TCN.

He notes for instance , that local manufacturers deployed and installed a total number of 611,231 energy meters across the country between January 2019 till 31st January, 2021.

This is corroborated by the report of the Regulatory Agency, the Nigeria Electricity Regulatory Commission, NERC, under the Meter Assets Provider (MAP) initiative of the federal government.

Also, they deployed  and installed 1million energy meters across the country under the phase zero of the National Mass Metering Programme (NMMP).

This is under the Federal Government intervention aimed at increasing the metering rate to eliminate the inglorious and arbitrary estimated billing and strengthening the local meter value chain, as well as creating jobs.

Of course, this has also helped in reducing collection losses and increasing financial flows to achieve 100% market remittance obligations of the Discos and improving network monitoring capability and availability of data for market administration and investment decision making.

It should recall that our members have been denied the opportunity to fully execute the contract for the supply and installation of 4 million energy meters under the Phase 1 of the NMMP scheme.

This was due to the unrealistic terms that arbitrarily fixed the contract prices extremely and far below the approved regulatory prices of energy meters in the country.

Additionally, the contractual term of payment after the supply and installation of the meters have not been adhered to, thereby jeopardizing the financial capabilities of our members that participated in the scheme.