The Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, has stated that the nation’s reliance on imports for the equipment required for the overhaul of the power sector has been a significant setback.
This disclosure was made by Adelabu when he recently visited Splendor Electric Nigeria Limited, a company producing electrical porcelain products in the Odogbolu area of Ogun State, according to The Punch.
Adelabu during a visit to the facility said that the Federal Government was prepared to assist local producers to decrease imports.
He described the infrastructure deficit as one of the hurdles facing the power sector.
The minister voiced concerns that the lack of local production of necessary components has made it difficult to achieve timely maintenance and infrastructure enhancement.
Adelabu stated that it is never easy to find foreign exchange to order the goods and that there is never a short wait between ordering and when the goods arrive.
“One of the major hurdles in the power sector is infrastructure deficit, the infrastructure gap across the segments of the power sector, especially transmission and distribution infrastructure, which the ministry is trying to enhance and upgrade to ensure the revamping or resuscitation to ensure stability electricity supply in the country.
“It has been quite frustrating to achieve speedy or accelerated enhancement of infrastructure and ensure proper and prompt maintenance because all the items in this infrastructure are imported. They are not manufactured here. Apart from the difficulties in sourcing foreign exchange for this importation, there is also a delay in terms of the cycle of importation between the time of order and the time of arrival. This has been frustrating effective maintenance of infrastructure. In the power sector,” he noted.
Adelabu restated the Federal Government’s pledge to assist regional manufacturers to stimulate the economy.
He promised to support Splendor Electric in ensuring its products are patronised by contractors and agencies like the Transmission Company of Nigeria.
He charged the company to always provide goods that could compete favourably with imported ones in terms of quality, while also requesting that they approach the ministry for any assistance.
Meanwhile, the Managing Director of Splendor Electric, Mr Weitei Guo stated that the business started operations in Nigeria last year and asserted that it was the only producer of electrical porcelain insulators in Africa.
“As a technology leader and manufacturer of electrical porcelain insulators for overhead distribution and transmission lines, our company occupies 230,000 square metres and we have full sets of technical facilities for types of porcelain insulators. The total investment of our company will reach $50m. Now we just finished our first phase of investment and we are planning the second phase of investment,” Guo explained.
He declared that the company was a dedicated specialist focused on high and low-voltage porcelain insulators and metal fittings, such as cross arms, hoops, and wire clamps.
“Our main products include suspension/disc insulators, anti-pollution type insulators, pins, spools, line posts, strain, shackle and more than 100 types of insulators. All the products are produced in strict accordance with international quality standards,” he noted.
He said that the company could supply international markets with dependable, high-quality electrical porcelain items.
“We are trying to export to nearby African countries, European countries, the Middle Eastern countries and countries of the Americas in the future,” he declared.
Guo pledged that the company would offer complete assistance and services to the Nigerian power sector to encourage partnership and the sharing of knowledge between China and Nigeria on the power business.
