Dare to be different -A shift in Paradigm

The provision of electricity has always been thought of as a public good that enjoys a natural monopoly status. The advent of the independent power producer has significantly changed this dynamics well at-least on the generation side of the business. Transmission and distribution remains to be highly monopolistic to avoid the duplication of resources particularly power lines and transformers.  Power generation dynamics has changed significantly in recent years and the introduction of sustainable renewable technologies has made power generation and distribution more effective. NAWEC is a fossil fuel generating company who is finding it hard to keep up with the rapid pace of growth and urbanization of the Gambia. This makes it hard for the electric company to provide uninterrupted power supply to all of its esteemed customers.

NAWEC should look into the possibility of becoming a hybrid (fossil fuel and renewable sources) power provider. Being a hybrid allows NAWEC to reduce its capital investment by reducing the procurement of new generating machines and also produce clean energy that is environmentally friendly. NAWEC can create a win-win solution whereby they will wane off small domestic consumers of electricity from the electric grid and introduce them to solar power.

Small households make up the bulk of Nawec’s domestic consumption and I estimate that their consumption is between 10-105 kilo watt hours per month. fazing them off the grid will create excess power that will be redistributed to industries and other high demand consumers. This will increase the total number of uninterrupted hours of power supply thereby making the availability of power more efficient. It is much cheaper for NAWEC to invest in small off grid solar setups for small consumers of electricity than buying new Generators. Alternatively, NAWEC can enter into Public/Private\partnerships that will spur the introduction of solar technology to small users on the grid.  Freeing up 20% capacity from the grid will go a long way and the profit margins accrued on the sale of solar power for the small households far exceeds that of conventional electric generation.