Nigeria’s integrated Information and Communication Technology (ICT), solution provider, Omatek Ventures Plc, has started a crusade aimed at plugging energy wastage in Nigeria. Omatek’s opinion is that Nigeria’s lingering electricity supply challenge would become a thing of the past when everybody understands the importance of conserving energy.
The company said it therefore decided to deploy solar technology solutions to reduce power consumption in Nigeria by as a much as 85 per cent. It also followed the commissioning of its 50KVA 3-phase off-grid solar solution factory that will represent the solar solution for factories, banks, telecoms firms, government and other organisations that require big power installations.
Off-grid solutions, on-grid solutions as well as Light Emiting Diode, LED bulbs are produced at the Omatek factory at Oregun in Ikeja. Already the company has started its crusade in earnest, lighting up and installing solar technology solutions at many secondary schools and other institutions in Nigeria, including the Greenwood School, Corona private school and the Nigerian Stock Exchange, NSE.
In an event attended by two federal ministers, Minister of Science and Technology, Dr. Omobola Johnson and her counterpart in the power sector, Dr Chinedu Nebo, Omatek used the opportunity to commission its 12watts, 20 watts, 500 watts power solutions that is touted to replace the “I better pass my neighbour generator”, for small homes, shops, small and medium enterprises (SMEs), churches, rural electrification and rural system, street lighting implementation, schools among others.
An elated Chief Executive Officer of Omatek, Mrs Florence Seriki, immediately after the commissioning, said that “these are all-in-one installations assembled locally and packed with Omatek’s solar, inverter, battery and controller in all-in-one carton. They can be self-installed.”
She added that “Omatek Solar Solution, which is a hybrid solution that provides 24 hours lighting/power Solution by use of our solar-led bulb-inverter hybrid solution; whilst providing 70 – 90 per cent cut/deduction in power consumption and drastically reducing power consumption by an average of 85 per cent on the overall grid, will enhance growth in the real sector and general economic development.”
According to her, “We have installed these solutions in schools, homes, offices and factories and proud to inform you that the education sector welcomed not just provision of power and green energy, the hostels and all reading areas have 24 hours lighting and this bridges the digital gap in our schooling system, as students had stopped reading in darkness.”
She also explained that, Omatek has almost completed the set up and the establishments of two local factories that will manufacture solar panels and the LED bulbs, saying only the all-in-one solutions are currently being produced locally.
Capturing key benefits inherent in the solar solutions, Seriki explained that the solutions “provides 24-hours alternate power/green energy for businesses, homes; provides 24-hour lighting solution to all; provides 24 hour solar energy and lighting solution for students, hostels, SMEs, homes, hostels, SMEs, small homes, shops; reduces power consumption by an average of 85 per cent by all; and well as providing affordable solar solution for continuous/uninterrupted lighting system.”
In addition, Seriki said the solar solution promotes safe and clean environment; reduces in fire risk by use of the LED solution and materials particularly used as well as bridging digital gap in the education system and enhance modern living and reduces cost of living and running businesses considerably.
According to Seriki,the Omatek LED bulbs have a life span of three to five years while the solar will last 25 years. The batteries also last between five to 10 years, she added.
It’ll bring SME boom -Nebo
The power minister, Prof Chinedu Nebo was visibly elated with the development and gave a long message of hope that portrayed Omatek’s energy saving crusade as the solution Nigeria has been waiting for. “This kind of initiative makes it possible to live off-grid and this means you don’t need to be connected to the national grid before you can get efficient power supply to handle your home, office and industrial activities.
Omatek has also demonstrated in line with Federal Government Policy. President Goodluck Jonathan has asked us to develop a renewable and energy efficiency policy which is at the final stage of implementation. We believe it is something that will liberate Nigeria. Nigeria has never had a renewable and energy efficiency policy and what Omatek has demonstrated here in terms of solar power supply and LED indicates that they know exactly what the government wants to do because this imitative is perfectly in tandem with the policy of the Federal Government of Nigeria.
With regards to LED bulb, Omatek has shown that everyone, not just companies, but every Nigerian can cut power consumption from 70 to 90 per cent. In other words, if your electricity in a month is N10,000, you can reduce to N3,000 if you use LED bulbs as these bulbs conserve a lot of electricity. For a hundred watts of regular bulb, if you have a five watts of LED, it will serve you the same purpose, give you the same luminosity so at the end of the day, the whole country would benefit”.
Clarion call
According to Nebo, “if the whole of the country put LED in use, it will free us 1,200 megawatt of power for industry, manufacturing, SME and industrial revolution will further boom. So, this is a clarion call to all Nigerians to begin the process of modification of making all our offices LEDified, all homes LEDified. In fact, new housing estates shouldn’t get approval until they demonstrate that they will use LED all through because that is the only way we can save a lot of energy which we waste at will in this country.
“Another thing that Omatek has also demonstrated today that we just commissioned is a home solution, whether it is small home, kiosk solution, shop solution, SME and big solution. It is solar powered light integrated with Inverter, The days of ‘I better pass my neighbour’ generators are numbered. ‘I better pass my neighbour generators kill. Many people have died using such.
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