Amidst the very low per capita energy consumption in Nigeria, Solar power has the potential to effectively tackle the energy difficulties in Nigeria's off-grid sector, however its adoption is impeded by multiple obstacles. This study examines the correlation between technology innovation and development of solar power in Nigeria's off-grid energy industry. We utilized a cross-sectional survey approach, following a positivist philosophical paradigm. We obtained data from 13 off-grid energy enterprises in Nigeria that are officially recognized by the Rural Electrification Agency (REA). The data was collected using a standardized questionnaire. We deployed Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) using Analysis of Moment Structure (AMOS) version 23 to examine a total of 239 fully filled surveys. The study discovered a notable and favourable correlation between the many aspects of technology innovation (such as market, process and product) and the indicators of the development of solar power (such as consumer trust). The results indicate that the promotion of technological innovation is essential for the effective development of solar power in Nigeria's off-grid sector. Nonetheless, it is crucial to tackle the difficulties related to government incentives to guarantee the extensive acceptance of solar power and enhance energy accessibility in urban and rural regions. Off-grid energy companies ought to allocate resources towards research and knowledge initiatives aimed at cultivating the essential expertise required for the development, installation, and maintenance of solar power systems. The study contributed to knowledge, by deploying the advanced analytical tool -Analysis of Movement Structure to carry out in-depth analysis and empirical evidence of the relationship between technological innovation and the development of solar power.

This study examines the impact of renewable energy consumption and electricity tariff on the economy of Nigeria. The study considers the casual relationship and vector decomposition between various renewable energy sources (solar, hydro and biomass), electricity price and Gross domestic product (GDP) using an unrestricted vector error correction model (VECM). In addition, other robust econometric techniques were applied to the time series of GDP, electricity price and energy consumption from renewable energy sources from 1980 to 2021. The findings indicated a 1% increase in biomass consumption causes increase in GDP by 0.14% in the long-run. Mixed result in the short-run with the difference in the log value of the current lag of solar and bio electricity consumption having positive impact on GDP. The coefficient of the Error Correction Model (ECM) was negative (-0.49) and statistically significant indicating that short-run change from the long-run equilibrium is corrected by 49% annually. Unidirectional causality from GDP to solar electricity consumption. Solar, hydro, biomass and electricity price explain 1.4%, 0.4% 2.2% & 12% respectively of fluctuations in GDP in the long-run. The study results demonstrates that regulations need to be put in place to control the adverse effect of consuming biomass on the environment which could cause mixed impact on gross domestic product in the short run whereas, policies to foster development of solar projects could impact positively on GDP and alleviate the electricity supply deficiency in Nigeria.

The current conventional electricity model based on a central national power generation and long-distance transmission grids with its attendant losses is no longer sustainable particularly in isolated rural communities where the cost of building transmission lines and transporting fuels is high. The utilization of minigrids to provide an efficient source of power in Nigeria with a population of over 200 million people have begun. However, it appears this is not sufficient to stimulate the growth of minigrid adoption in Nigeria especially as there is a large disparity between the present minigrid and the national grid price of electricity (N250 - N300/kWh versus N53-N76/kWh), this currently serves as a deterrent to minigrids adoption, viability, and sustainability in Nigeria. This paper examined the factors that contribute to the high cost of electricity generation from minigrids as well as provided recommendations to reduce the cost of electricity generation from minigrids by carrying out a technical and economic simulation of an existing 85KW solar based renewable energy minigrid project in Nigeria. This paper used HOMER software for the simulation using Solar PV (PV), Storage Battery(B), Diesel Generator (DG) and Converter as the basecase scenario and other alternative scenarios were also modelled using CNG (Compressed Natural Gas) and LPG (Liquified Petroleum Gas) as alternate sources of fuel A structured analysis of the results obtained from the model show that fuel costs accounts as one of the key drivers of the minigrid systems tariff cost, the use of LPG as a source of fuel reduced the tariff cost by about 14% and CNG by about 38%. Based on these findings, this paper proposes the use of LPG and CNG as substitute fuels instead of diesel to reduce the current minigrid systems tariff costs.

This study uses a Low Emissions Analysis Program (LEAP) model to optimize the integrated energy systems of a developing economy (Nigeria) over 2020 - 2050 modelling period using Technology. It attempts to address the perennial energy dearth challenge, which plagues developing economies, while minimizing associated environmental impact GHG Emissions. The study models existing conditions within the developing economy as a baseline and evaluates a technology application scenario. The results obtained indicate that the application of technology has a significant impact with as much as 70.6% reduction in energy demand and 64.8% reduction in GHG emissions within the modelling period. The application of technology is therefore critical for sustainably meeting the future energy demands of the developing economy modelled (Nigeria). The study recommends that specifically applicable technology identified should be implemented in the developing country to address the energy dearth by enhancing supply while keeping the associated Green House Gas (GHG) emissions low.

Consumers of electrical energy expect a network to support their apparatuses with continuous and reliable supply.This makes reliability studies an important task besides all the other analyses required for assessing the system performance. The paper presents an analytical approach in the reliability assessment of the Port Harcourt 33/11kV power distribution system. The assessment was performed with the 2009 power outage data collected from the monopolistic operator of the Nigerian power system, National Electric Power Authority (now unbundled and called Power Holding Company of Nigeria, (PHCN) Plc) on the four substations: Marine-Base, U.S.T., Old-GRA and PH-Town injection substations radiating from the Port Harcourt Town 132/33/11kV transmission/injection substation. Thus, this study will enable utilities to determine the state of reliability of each substation and hence, provide a standard for prioritizing maintenance and upgrade of its distribution substation facilities.

Performance of various Automatic Voltage Regulators (AVR's) in Nigeria and the causes of their inability to regulate at their set points have been investigated. The result indicates that the imported AVRs fail to give the 220 volts as displayed on the name plate at the specified low set point (such as 100, 120 volts etc) on no-load and would expectedly perform worse under load. Many of them regulate to 220 volts only when the input is at 180 volts. Many of them gave higher output when the input is high. At the upper set point, they regulate between 220 and 230 volts as output. The AVR (investigated) manufactured in Nigeria is quite better than the imported ones within the tested range, hence should be encouraged and patronized. Keywords : AVR, Snap action, Variac. [Global Jnl Engineering Res. Vol.2(1&2) 2003: 49-58]

A study of the provision of electric power using associated natural gas as primary source of energy, in an offshore oil production platform has been carried out. Some of the problems to be contended with include: the effects of impurities contained in the fuel gas supply;variations in the production process characteristics; space constraints and the fire hazards that exist in an oil production environment. The study revealed that power supply can be improved by modifying fuel gas supply manifold, and also by introducing multiple stage gas filteration units and neutralizer filter units. Finally, among other recommendations, it will be desirable to replace the battery-powered UPS system with a rotary engine UPS which can provide long-term power supply back-up as well as the benefits of rotating machines. KEY WORDS: Offshore, Platform, Power Supply, Gas turbine, Rotary Diesel UPS. [Global Jnl Engineering Res. Vol.2(1&2) 2003: 35-40]

Transients in power systems are initiated by abrupt changes to otherwise steady operating conditions. These changes would be as a result of any of the following: opening or closing of circuit breakers, switching conditions, lightning or any other fault condition. For purposes of power system analysis these conditions are simulated using mathematical models. In the formulation of these mathematical models efforts are made to represent changes in transmission line characteristics, such as the variation of line parameters with frequency. Electromagnetic (EM) transients produced by these mathematical models serve as a useful reference in the design of protective devices and fault locators. It is therefore pertinent to examine the effect of faithful reproduction of line characteristics in the simulated transients with respect to the performance of fault locators tested with the simulated transients. Such investigation has shown that the computational burden involved in trying to represent all line characteristics in transients calculations could be saved.

Improved mathematical models of transmission lines are used to develop a fault location method which copes with high-frequency transients. The telegraph equations used for a line model are solved by the method of characteristics using voltage and current samples as boundary conditions taken at one end of the line within the first few milliseconds of fault inception. Estimates of voltage and current profiles for the entire length of the transmission line during the fault are obtained. Criteria for fault location are based on a formulation involving these voltage and current estimates. For fault location on multiphase systems the concept of modal analysis is used in enhancing the fault-locating capability of this algorithm.

The high frequency components in fault waveforms present undesirable effects to most fault location algorithms and as a consequence filtering of postfault signals, to remove the high frequency transients, is essential for accurate fault location. A fault location algorithm that derives from travelling wave principles can cope with high frequency transients since these basically depend on travelling wave phenomena. The development of such an algorithm is the objective of this paper. Using the telegraph equations as a line model, voltage and current samples taken at one end of a line within the first 5 ms of fault inception are used to generate instantaneous voltage and current profiles for the rest of the transmission line. The voltage and current estimation is based on the solution of the equations of the line model by the method of characteristics. Criteria functions involving any of the square of the voltage, the square of the current, or the product of the two are applied for determination of the fault position. Fault position is given by the peak variation in tangent to the above basic functions. The algorithm finds application in fault location on two and three-terminal networks at both transmission and distribution levels.

The grid is a network that connects all the major power stations and load centers in a country (or power system). The constraints to grid operations include generation, transmission, and system control. Remedial actions aimed at addressing these problems are presented. The high point of the recommendations is the adoption of "Distributed Generation Scheme". In the absence of an accurate load demand, regional sales of electric energy were used to estimate regional demand for electricity. These were in turn used to decide location of new generating plants under the distributed generation scheme. (Keywords: grid operations, energy sales, distributed generation)