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Power outage:There is no cabal,we just lack
proper planning-
Engr Udemba Hyacinth
Newsdiaryonline Mon Aug 8,2011
Recently our reporter met with Engr Udemba Hyacinth, the
originator of renewable energy in Nigeria and the CEO Prime
Solar Energy Limited.A Nigerian and Power Electronics Engineer
with Membership of Professional Bodies: ISES, MNSE, MIEE, MNBCC
Line of Business: Renewable Energy Design, Sales and
Installation , has created jobs for over 200 Nigerians . Here
are excerpts of the interview.
By Joy Idam,Abuja
What was your motivation to go into renewable energy ?
I wish to start by commending President Jonathan for the impact
he has made in the Power sector and to urge Nigerians to give
him more chance as power generation is not magic but must follow
a complete circle.Actually I went
into the business of renewable energy after my service year with
Mobile and it occurred to me that power was the problem of the
nation, when I served in
Mobil I discovered
that we can stay in power for 24hours without any blink,
both at the office and off shore rigs. So I
kept asking myself the
question why can’t we have the same in our homes so for that
reason i went into the business of power generation since it is
something every body requires and how best to provide it. I
began with myself ensuring there was 24 hour power supply in my
home and when my neighbors asked I introduced them to it and
that led me into the initial aspect of my business providing
back up power in the house from there I
sold the same idea to
other people for domestic and office use that became the era of
inverter It
happened that my Company , Semens Nigeria Limited was the first
to go into such business in Nigeria and it was really not
appreciated but I was
convinced it had come to stay so I
went into it. It was all
about convincing people to try it and that led to increased
production.
Did you get paid for the idea and invention ?
It was not truly my original idea but I
popularised it by
marketing the idea to Nigerians and you know after that alot of
people dabbled into it not having the technical knowledge those
who did so at the beginning gave it a bad name because they did
it wrongly and it failed. Thus they had mixed feelings.
What makes yours unique ?
I studied electrical Engineering to its highest level, and I
had idea of what I
wanted to do from the
very start , and I got
in depth knowledge at Mobile that was where I
was exposed to lots of
literature ,hardware to
study, so I got the best
I could from Mobil.
After working with Mobile, I traveled
to Germany to have practical experiences with some companies and
later traveled to UK with BP Solar. So when I
got back to Nigeria I
added Solar power to the
back up business.
Prostar Solar Installations at Unical ,Cross Rivers State
Please clarify the terms ?
Solar energy and renewable energy are inter changeable because
they all derive their source from the sun , for instance if you
say photovoltaic source of energy that means energy from the
light that one is when you talk of solar panels and it is called
insulation . In photovoltaic the solar panel converts solar
energy and it is used in the home and this is also derived from
the sun. we have other aspects of solar energy like the wind ,
wind blows because of differences i temperature and this
pressure variation and this causes the turbine to move and
provide energy that is from turbines. We also have geothermal
energy derived from the ocean, it is caused by temperature
variations making the ocean to drift from side to side thus
causing geothermal energy and that temperature difference is
caused by the sun.. From which ever way you look at it, all
forms of power are derived from the sun thus you hear the term
solar energy, because the energy is from the sun and it is
renewable energy from the sun and this occurs daily .
Why is the world now turning to renewable energy ?
It is because of the ozone layer depletion ,some other weather
problems caused by pollution ,industrial power systems etc and
so people are now using renewable energy. I am happy Nigeria is
not left behind in this.
What is wrong withe the energy sector in Nigeria ?
Some of us in the sector know there are problems and we have
tried to find out what may be the cause and proffer solutions,
on the way forward. WhyNigerians blame the so-called cabals is
what still baffles me, on the epileptic power supply, but for me
I insist that there is
no cabal. Because during Abacha era a lot of rumors were peddled
to scare Nigerians and check them, no cabal is doing anything
.The Maikano generator- people came in ,saw a need and keyed
into it just as I raised
Nigerians will require power and started the renewable back up
power. The only way I blame
government is that they should have demanded that Maikano
assemble here in Nigeria, that way they create job opportunities
for our people. So to say
they are bribing PHCN is doing a great disservice to
PHCN.
Why have we not gotten it right despite huge sum pumped into
PHCN ?
When you say huge sum I wonder
what people are talking about.Ask yourself was there
money pumped into the
right source ? There are three major sectors of power ,
generation, transmission and distribution. Have we been able to
ascertain how much power we require in Nigeria ? Those are very
vital questions we are yet to answer and it is key.
What are the various
power generation sources we have ? We have hydro, geothermal and
gas turbine and how many of hydro do we have and what is their
capacity and status ? We know kainji dam was built over 50years
ago what is the life span of Kainji dam? What is the maximum
capacity that was built at Kainji dam? And how many are
operating at the optimum capacity now? What has happened to the
water level ?Is
the power generation still the same at the Niger that feeds
Kainji Dam? Yes we have geothermal at Shiroro, is it 24hours or
365 days production capacity power generation ? Certainly not,
Shiroro generates from Kaduna river there are peak and low
periods and that explains rationing only when water level is
high that they switch on 24hours and in peak areas they supply.
They use it to support other areas. The Afam and Egbim and
others what are the installation capacity and how do they
operate at maximum capacity. Most times you instal 10 megawatts
and only 5 is working. Reasons may range from low water levels
,absence of gas supply and when this happens they keep blaming a
faceless cabal. Is it the cabal that shuts down Shiroro or
Kainji dam? No. This are all natural causes. When we fail
to generate enough and do not plan well for the little power
generated then we seek for those to blame again. Even when they
produce and generate are they able to deliver the power to the
end users via the
transmission lines ? How effective are the transmission lines
and are they connected to the national grid, all the power
stations networked to synchronise such that they supply into the
same network in case one of them shuts down? Unfortunately we
have a disjointed grid, such that a particular station supplies
an area; when it is down, they have to divert from an area to
feed major sensitive areas such as hospitals and airports. And
this is already meant for another area. We lack proper planning.
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