Isaac Anumihe, Abuja
Following the constant substandard materials used in the construction and installation of electrical equipment, Federal Government yesterday gave guidelines for the installation of electrical equipment in Nigeria, saying that any installation without certification is now illegal in the country.
Speaking during the launch of the guidelines, the Managing Director of Nigerian Electricity Management Services Agency (NEMSA), Engineer Peter Ewesor, said that the guidelines would address the inadequacy of the standards, specifications and construction practices in the distribution subsector of Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry (NESI).
“It will serve as a benchmark for agency’s engineers and technical officers in the execution of the agency’s mandate/functions of enforcement of technical standards and regulations; technical inspections, testing and certification of all categories of electrical installations and systems in the distribution subsector” he said.
According to him, the dedicated use and application of the guidelines manual by DisCos, National Rural Electrification Agency, States Rural Electrification Boards and other stakeholders will bring back the required sanity, safety, stability, standardisation and unification to the distribution networks and systems in line with national and international best practice.
Ewesor said that whereas the extant regulation recognizes 400/230 volts as Nigeria or National Standard for low voltage, the actual reality is 415.240 volts.
Also, the single phase supply comes from distribution transformers (33/0.400kv 11/0.400kv) with 230 volts single phase. But industry reality is 33/0.415kv, 11/0.415kv with 240 volts single phase, regretting that the right basic insulation level (BIL) has eluded Nigerian power industry.
Previously, he said, the BIL values for 33kv and 11kv equipment were 72/96 kv and 28kv respectively whereas today these values are 36kv and 12kv respectively.
In his remarks, the Minister of State for Power, Mr Goddy Jedy Agba said that the adherence to the guidelines will be beneficial to everybody because it would curb the incidence of fire as a result of inferior materials and improper installations of electrical materials.
According to him, the use of the manual will bring sanity, standardisation and safety in the industry.