Mojec International’s vision to set the pace as a reputable power solution company has again been harped on at the just concluded 2022 Nigeria Energy Conference.
The conference with theme, “Affordable, Reliable and Sustainable Energy Through Collaboration,” was organised by the Nigeria Energy Exhibition and Conference.
Held in Lagos, the conference saw key stakeholders and players in the energy sector, government ministries and regulators to gas companies supplying fuel to grid-connected plants and independent power producers, distribution companies and the bodies mandated to facilitate the development of renewable energy and off-grid solutions in attendance.
In her virtual presentation session titled, ‘Solving Nigeria’s Power Challenges Through Smart Electricity Metering’, Group Managing Director, MOJEC International, Chantelle Abdul said the company pioneered the concept of smart metering technology in Nigeria by setting up a state-of-the-art electricity meter manufacturing plant with a production capacity of 1,200,000 meters annually designed to serve the local African markets. It has achieved giant strides in distributions of meters in collaboration with Discos across the nation.
Speaking on the aspect of renewable energy, Ms Abdul said that Mojec’s sister company, Virtuits Solaris, seeks to use the power of abundant sunlight in Africa to power people’s homes, offices, industries and cars. She added that the company offers clients smart home solutions which include automation, energy measurement and management. The technology will enable customers to remotely switch on and off appliances in their homes in a bid to manage their energy consumption. Solaris intends to deploy solutions nationwide.
She explains further, “We are also involved in building embedded mini-grids for large commercial, industrial, and utility customers. Our company provides last-mile renewable energy for residential, industrial and utility-scale clients as well as the supply and installation of energy storage equipment and other related services. We have left no stone unturned to solve the problem of unreliable power supply in Nigeria and on the continent by providing clean sustainable energy to end-users by harnessing the power of the sun and the grid, thereby eliminating the dependency on diesel and generating sets. Solving Nigeria’s power challenges through Smart Electricity Metering.”
Ms Abdul pointed out that with the number of people who do not have access to electricity in Nigeria and the high number of those who get less than desired supply of electricity, smart metering would always be an issue.
In her words, “With about 85 million people still lacking access to electricity and millions of others connected to the national grid getting less than 12 hours of electricity daily, it seemed hard or nearly impossible for electricity consumers to have access to smart metering. It is therefore given, that most electricity consumers would be using analog meters, while a very large chunk were restricted to estimated billing.”
She drew cheers from a cross section of attendees and maintained that a strong synergy between the public and private sector was necessary to ameliorate the challenges confronting the energy sector.
Abdul commended the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) and the various distribution companies for collaborating on the Meter Asset Provider (MAP) initiative and urged industry stakeholders to strive to sustain it, so as to build on the gains it has made since introduction.