Chukwu David 
Disturbed by problems of incessant national grid collapse and epileptic power supply, the Senate Committee on Power yesterday, had an interactive session with a South Korean energy firm to proffer lasting solutions.
The Committee, led by Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe (Abia South), told the BK Energy firm from South Korean, that what Nigeria and Nigerians want, was to get rid of the incessant grid collapse and epileptic power supply that had bedevilled the country over the years due to moribund infrastructure.
Senator Abaribe told the energy investor that basic infrastructure of power is what the country needs, having over the years been stuck with 4, 000 megawatts of electricity generation due to lack of transmission infrastructure to wheel any generation above that to the distribution channels.
“Our major concern as a committee and by extension as a people, is how to break the bond and bridge the yawning gap of insufficient power generation in the country. “We want you to be very practical in your submission for us to buy into whatever new technology or idea you have brought, which should serve as expected solutions for us.”
In their response, BK Energy, represented by Mr Haeagwoo Lee and Sangwoo Park, said the mini-grid approach should be adopted by the Nigerian government to solve the incessant problem of national grid collapse.
According to Lee, South Korea, which has a population of about 50 million people, has 130, 000megawatts of electricity generation that is not all loaded onto a single or national grid alone.
“There is need for decentralisation when it comes to wheeling or transmission of power generation to avoid waste or incessant collapse.
“Nigeria is even a very lucky country where coconut is largely produced agriculturally which can be converted for power generation as done in South Korea. Coconut trees can also be used to build a generating plant in any neighbourhood,” he said.
