Energy experts recommend ‘lifecyle approach’ for reliable energy
2026-02-03 - 05:08
By Johnbosco Agbakwuru ABUJA —ENERGY stakeholders in Nigeria’s power and renewable sector are pushing for a “lifecycle approach” to infrastructure, ditching hasty project rollouts for coordinated strategies that blend technology, strict standards, and trained workers to deliver lasting reliability and sustainability. The push was made at the Nextier Power Dialogue in Abuja, hosted virtually by The Electricity Hub under the theme “Improving Standardisation and Maintenance for Energy Access and Sustainability.” Regulators, developers, policy experts, and market players dissected chronic flaws in Nigeria’s decentralized energy systems, especially mini-grids. Panelists—including Habiba Ali, CEO of Sosai Renewable Energies; Chimaobi Omeye, Regional Coordinator for West and Central Africa at the Africa Minigrid Developers Association, AMDA; Chinedu Ogoilegbune, Infrastructure Consultant at Nextier; and sustainability expert Adanne Wadibia-Anyawu—pinned mini-grid failures on layered issues: poor design, subpar components, shoddy installation, harsh environmental factors, and neglected maintenance. According to Ali: “Nigeria’s energy sector has long chased installation milestones, but we’ve left maintenance as an orphan after commissioning. “Failures aren’t isolated—they cascade from the cradle to the grave of a project.” Speakers hailed emerging shifts fueled by tougher regulations, performance-based financing, and rigorous safety checks. They urged early developer-regulator collaboration, framing inspections, testing, and certification as vital risk shields, not red tape. Accountability, they stressed, spans the entire chain: regulators enforce standards, developers adhere, financiers reward uptime, and buyers demand certified parts and skilled hands.Commercially, maintenance can’t be an add-on. “Embed it in revenue models from day one—poor upkeep, scattered rural sites, and capex-focused tariffs are killing reliability,” Omeye noted. Speaking, Ogoilegbune warned that, “AI design, remote platforms, firmware, and e-mobility will lap our technicians without relentless training.” The panelists redefined success: not deployment speed, but enduring safety and uptime. “Measure energy access by longevity, not launch dates,” Wadibia-Anyawu concluded.