Electricity and Energy Transition in Nigeria

Norbert Edomah

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2020
• eBook ISBN: 9780429533945
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Política y relaciones internacionales
• Subtopic: Ecología

Electricity and Energy Transition in Nigeria provides readers with a detailed account of the dynamics of energy infrastructure change in Nigeria's electricity sector.

The book starts by introducing the basic theories underpinning the politics of energy infrastructure supply and goes on to explore the historical dimensions of the Nigerian energy transition by highlighting the influences and drivers of energy systems change. Edomah also examines the political dynamics at play, highlighting the political actors and institutions that shape energy supply, as well as the impact of consumer politics. The book concludes by considering how all these factors may influence the future of energy in Nigeria.

This book will be of great interest to students and scholars of energy transitions, energy technology and infrastructure, and African Studies more generally.

1 Introduction

Energy transition entails a shift, or movement, away from the use of fossil fuels in our energy supply systems.¹ Across the world, fossil fuels, such as coal, crude oil, and natural gas, account for a large percentage of our energy supplies. Why then are we interested in energy transition? Beyond the fact that most fossil fuel resources are reserve based, which means they are limited, the major driver of energy transitions is the threat posed by burning the available large quantities of fossil fuels and their corresponding impact on the environment.² How do we generate this transition? The clean energy transition is somewhat unique because it has to be driven by policy. Markets cannot provide the platform to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, since markets tend towards the least-cost option, which at the moment is fossil fuel. As such, it is important to understand the role of policy, policy levers, and policy decisions in effecting energy transitions within the political economy.³

Energy transitions occur worldwide and are influenced by fundamental structural changes in the energy sector.⁴ Security of energy supply remains the most important motivation for global energy transitions such as increasing supply to meet rising demand, or reducing dependency on imports. Davidsson, in his study of global energy transitions, argues that government policy making is the major driver of change in connection with energy transitions.⁵ Davidsson further argues that Germany and the United States follow a decentralized approach in policy making, with a significant impact by state-level policy decision makers. He argues however, that the reverse is the case with emerging economies such as Brazil, China, and Saudi Arabia with centralized approaches to decision making where government play a very vital role in defining energy investment priorities.⁵

In developing economies, energy supply shortages, poor or non-existent infrastructure, and subsidized end-user prices are some key direct challenges which tend to slow down the implementation of structural changes in energy systems. In industrialized countries, the main challenges are rapid speed of change and imbalance in the development path of energy systems.⁶ Davidsson argues:

The exchange of experiences and the sharing of knowledge gained from solving implementation challenges can make an important contribution towards tackling the challenge of energy transitions worldwide. The countries analysed can learn from important parallels and differences in terms of policy making, technology deployment and business model evolution.⁵

(p. 2)

Understanding how policy decisions are taken, how current policies are interpreted, and how energy infrastructure is shaped is dependent on the understanding of the actors and stakeholders, their socio-psychological biases, the internal workings of the institutions within which they act, and their organization’s wider interests. On this basis, the broader influences and consequences of the policy decision process and energy governance need to be considered.

Investigating the past, and understanding the factors that influenced the patterns of energy use can be very useful to policy makers and other energy stakeholders in effectively governing the affairs of the energy sector, and ensuring that the right energy infrastructure is provided that satisfactorily addresses the energy needs of people in society. This book presents and questions the Nigerian energy governance structure within the electricity sub-sector by investigating the linkages between policy making and electricity infrastructure provision.

What does this book aim to address?

The apparent complexity and the lack of understanding of the workings of the Nigerian electricity sector pose a challenge to investing parties. Many investors know there are lots of prospects and opportunities in Nigeria’s electricity sector. However, they find it very difficult to understand the complex governance dynamics and the political terrain within which decisions are taken. As such, it is arduous for investing parties to ascertain when to invest, what to invest in, and to what extent to invest. Different stakeholders are also concerned about the need to understand what drives change in energy systems from the end-use, resources, infrastructure, and governance perspectives in order to better plan, provide, and manage energy for current and future needs.

There is presently not enough material on Nigeria’s energy transitions and the dynamics of energy infrastructure change in Nigeria that contributes to the global debate on the motives and drivers of energy transitions. This is the main motivation for putting this book together.

The overall aim of this book is to extend knowledge and recent writing on energy transitions with a focus on understanding the motives and influences underlying changes in energy infrastructure demand and supply within the Nigerian context. Indeed, some guiding questions that address the central aim include:

• How does innovation change the nature of demand for energy over time?

• What are the salient factors that have influenced the evolution of energy demand and supply?

• What roles do political actors play, within institutional frameworks, with regard to energy and electricity governance?

The Nigerian energy sector is very complex. It involves interaction among multiple (state and non-state) stakeholders. Decision making is mostly influenced by domestic politics and other geopolitical considerations, which sometimes create a lack of clarity that makes companies want to bend the rules in order to stay competitive.^7,8 Related to this is the issue of bias in the selection process for choosing contractors for a specific project, which is oftentimes introduced before the bidding process. Indeed, this is more evident as a form of corruption in the oil and gas sub-sector than in the electricity sub-sector.⁹

Why the electricity sector?

The energy sector is very broad. Conducting interconnection studies between policy making and energy infrastructure supply requires that the specifics of each sub-sector is understood. There are two dominant sub-sectors of the energy industry in Nigeria:

1 Electricity – This includes generation, supply, distribution, and utilization.

2 Oil and gas – This includes exploration and production activities, upstream, mid-stream, and downstream operations, etc.

Indeed, there are other sub-sectors which are not as dominant as the aforementioned ones (such as coal and nuclear). Focusing on one sub-sector provides a platform for an in-depth study on the core issues associated with that sub-sector. As such, the choice of the electricity sector also considers the various electricity sources and fuels (coal, hydropower, natural gas, etc.), electricity legislation and governance issues, amid other possible influences. The electricity sector has been chosen for the following reasons:

1 There are salient issues in the electricity sector which impact on both the rich and the poor (such as energy access and poverty).

2 There are not as many studies on the Nigerian electricity sub-sector in comparison with the oil and gas sub-sector. One of the reasons for this is the funding from oil and gas firms in Nigeria for research in the oil and gas sub-sector (through postgraduate scholarships and research collaboration for academics) is greater than for electricity.

3 The oil and gas sub-sector is likely more influenced by foreign investments rather than domestic needs and policy dynamics.

Materials and methods

To address the aims of the research that produced this book, the mixed method was employed. Quantitative and qualitative data were collected from already published literature and official statistical records in order to ascertain the historical reasons and factors that underpinned energy demand, consumption patterns, and energy infrastructure provisions. Qualitative data were collected through in-depth interviews with current and past policy makers (which include current and past federal and state law makers, ministers, and special advisers to the government). The aim was to collect historical data (based on the participants’ life experiences) on the impact and influence of policy making – as a practice – on decisions regarding energy supply infrastructure provisions.

The mixed method is a research design that uses a combination of qualitative and quantitative research approaches in many aspects and phases of the research process.¹⁰ The mixed method uses a philosophical assumption that guides the direction of the collection and analysis of data. As a method, it focuses on collecting, analysing, and mixing both quantitative and qualitative data in a single study or in series of studies.¹¹ In an attempt to address the central aim of this book, quantitative and qualitative data were collected from two broad sources:

1 Data from primary and secondary sources in documentary archives and other published sources that link to the Nigerian historical energy infrastructure provisions.

2 Data collected via in-depth semi-structured interviews with open-ended questions. The research participants came from diverse backgrounds. Participants were recruited mainly from people who have been involved (directly or indirectly) in policy making and electricity infrastructure provisions.

Some key contributions of this book

Sandberg argues that with respect to research,

It is important to provide innovative questions which will open up new research problems, might resolve long standing controversies, could provide an integration of different approaches, and might even turn conventional wisdom and assumptions upside down by challenging old beliefs.¹²

(pp. 1–2)

Corley also argues that originality and utility constitute two dimensions that currently dominate consideration of theoretical contributions.¹³ Corley further argues that originality can be categorized as either (1) advancing understanding incrementally or (2) advancing understanding in a way that provides some form of revelation, whereas the utility dimension parses into (1) practically useful and (2) scientifically useful. In the context of this literature, I now argue that there are three broad areas with which this book contributes to existing bodies of knowledge: empirical, methodological, and theoretical contributions.

Empirical contributions

This book presents how activities of policy makers and actors, within institutional frameworks, impact on decisions on energy supply infrastructure. The data gathered, particularly from the archives of the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC), is such that no one has collected and used it in the analysis of the Nigerian energy transitions, or even any other associated field. The archival data collected from the NRC, and the subsequent analysis using that data in studying the Nigerian ene...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Series Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Table of Contents
• List of figures
• List of tables
• Acknowledgements
• 1 Introduction
• PART I: Energy demand and supply theories
• PART II: Historical dimensions of the Nigerian energy transitions
• PART III: Political dynamics of energy systems change
• PART IV: The future of energy
• Index