Building Sustainable Grid Interconnectivity Amid Challenges In ECOWAS

The regional bloc known as the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) is endowed with energy potential but the sub-region is bedeviled by poor electricity access which is often attributed to lack of proper grid interconnectivity.

Experts in the energy and power sector point to  a variety of challenges ranging from  regulatory, social, economic, technical and financial constraints especially insufficient generation as well as transmission and distribution losses.

The poor access to power is a big disincentive for business and investment in the region and is a big cause of poor productivity as electricity supply remains   t h e infrastructure that allows rural and u r b a n poor to grow beyond subsistence activity, to generate individual savings and increase their demand for modern energy services.

At the just concluded delocalized meeting of the Joint Committees of the ECOWAS Parliament on the theme: “Building the regional energy market for a just energy transition” which was held in Freetown the capital of Sierra Leone, experts were unanimous that more investment should be made to lift the sector.

According to Project Coordinator for West African Power Pool (WAPP), Dr. Mawufemo Modjinou, insecurity also plays a significant part in hindering the progress of grid interconnectivity in ECOWAS, even if the energy resources are unevenly distributed and located far from those without access.

The sub region has a population of about 400 million people and Modjinou believes that the interconnection of power grids would help diversify the imported sources of energy to hinterland countries, adding that this will have a major impact on the quality of service provided by utilities.

He said “West Africa has one of the highest differentials of electricity costs in the world, but vast geographical distances and limited infrastructure does not permit countries to trade electricity to meet demand at economically efficient prices.

“It also includes some of the most poverty-stricken countries in the world, which could benefit from abundant and realisable electricity.

“Since the creation of the West African Power Pool (WAPP), in just a decade all ECOWAS Member countries are now linked with transmission infrastructure and many are exchanging power with their neighbors.

“Bilateral trade has increased significantly since the formation of WAPP, albeit unevenly and with continuous financial and operational challenges”, he stated.

According to Modjinou, judicious implementation of the priority projects listed in the master plan has resulted in interconnection of 13 of the 14 continental ECOWAS countries and work is underway to interconnect the remaining country, Guinea Bissau, by the end of 2023.

“Other important power transmission projects totalling 1, 873 kilometers of high voltage lines are being implemented to reinforce the exchange of power and reliability of the regional network, namely the North Core HV Interconnection Project between Nigeria, the Niger, Benin and Burkina Faso of about 900 Kilometers, the Guinea-Mali HV Interconnection project of about 714 Kilometers and the Manantali-Bomako line project (279KM) of high voltage in Mali,” he added.

Despite these huge investments, not many citizens of the sub region are enjoying quality electricity as perpetual darkness still persists in the continent and many citizens, especially in Nigeria, the most populous country in the region, have resorted to generating sets that pose serious health hazards.

Lamenting the situation a Member of Parliament from Nigeria, Oghene Emma Egoh, said during the delocalized meeting that “WAPP needs to look into the Nigerian power issue carefully because not less than 50 per cent of Nigerians run generators on daily bases. Also Nigeria needs about 30 megawatts to be able to have stable electricity. Nigerians enjoy less than one hour of power in a day, so I do not know how you were able to arrive at such an arrangement.”

According to ECOWAS sources, the WAPP infrastructure programme is derived from the ECOWAS Master Plan for the Development of Regional Power Generation and Transmission Infrastructure. The current plan covers the period of 2019-2033 and was adopted by ECOWAS Heads of States and government in December 2018.

The Speaker of the ECOWAS Parliament, Sidie Mohamed Tunis, has always maintained that the region will continue to increase investment in this sector as that is the only guarantee for the much talked about industrialization of the region.

However, for this project to become a dream reality the region must take into account the numerous resources in terms of human and material, especially water and coordinate efforts to harness them into hydroelectricity.  There is also the need for massive investment aimed to scale –up the power infrastructure to global standards. Without these, the region may continue to struggle to meet the energy needs of its people.