Imbibing energy-saving culture by Nigerians has become imperative in the face of inadequate power supply and huge electricity demand, the Chief Executive Officer, Dubrai Contractors Limited, Mr. Abraham Williams, has said.
Addressing journalists in Lagos, on Tuesday, Williams said energy consumption could be reduced by 50 per cent if Nigerians imbibed energy-saving culture.
He said, “Since we do not have the power generation and distribution capacity to meet our energy demand, we should imbibe the culture of energy-saving through the use of low-energy appliances across board; in our homes, street lighting and industrial facilities.
“This can be achieved by the government through massive campaigns, sensitisation, enlightenment and incentives/subsidy to operators who implement low energy appliances or convert from energy-guzzling appliances to low energy consuming appliances.”
He argued that this would significantly reduce the country’s energy consumption and the pressure on the national grid.
The saved energy, he opined, could be channelled into other meaningful areas; adding that the financial saving on the part of the operators; federal, state and local governments could also be used for other developmental projects.
“This will position us among nations that are creating sustainable development,” he said.
Williams, whose company partners with Prismalence AB of Sweden for the manufacturing and sale of low-energy street light, lamented that street lighting took a larger part of the 4000MW electricity generated in the country.,
“Study has shown that in lighting a street the implementation cost is a fraction of the operating cost,” he said.
“So what is the major reason for the high operating cost”, he asked. “If we review the operating cost element, we will discover that the major factor is energy cost.”
On why the energy cost is so high, Williams said the answer was the consumption capacity of each street light (250w per Pole averagely).
“So, for Abuja, our capital city which has more than 300,000 street light poles and still expanding, we are looking at a total average energy consumption of about 75 megawatts,” he said.
In view of this, the Dubrai Contractors recommended that Nigerians should embrace energy-saving bulbs for their outdoor and indoor lighting.
He said this against the fact that the street light across the country was being powered from the national grid, diesel generators and solar power.
He said, “Powering the nationwide street lights through the national grid has enormous challenges due to our power generation (approximate 4000mw) and distribution capacity. A closer look at our present energy crisis will indicate the effect of the huge amount of energy been guzzled by street lights across the nation. While for the option of powering our street lights with diesel generators also has its attendant negative impact and consequences. The average cost of diesel and the environmental implication of carbon footprint cannot be overlooked.”
Deploying efficient energy in public utilities, especially in the area of street/special lighting, according to Williams is a key strategic component of the road-map to achieving global energy adequacy for all.
“Energy efficiency, especially for public utilities such as street-lighting is a strategic initiative for boosting availability of power for other uses,” he reiterated.