Does anyone know how much electricity from generators costs?

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Posted: Mon Aug 06, 2007 12:00 am

OK, I have been browsing diesel generator and electricity company websites for a while...without finding the "general rule" ...

Please can you help me...because what I�d like to know is this:

Whenever our Lagos or elsewhere lads seem unable to meet us in chat or do not write at the usual times I think by now one reason is the frequent power shortage in the big cities.

One lad I got to know through redshoes17�s help and mentorship frequently changes IPs. We are now sure he has an own laptop but often "works" from cafe machines in different cafes all over town as well...so I come to think obviously many cafe owners, if not all, provide their own generators.

Well, I know how much an kilowatt hour is in Germany and I know how much 1 l diesel oil is...and I know the latter way of producing energy is several times higher...

But how much exactly? Is there a rough rule? (like 3 times or 5 times more expensive?)
Does anyone have a diesel generator, at least for camping purposes, and can tell me?

Anyway, how much is diesel oil in Nigeria - actually a rich oil-producing country? (well, it ought to be, that is...)
I bet it�s quite an expensive thing there for any company, too, having to provide their generators.

Posted: Mon Aug 06, 2007 12:17 am

Diesel is about 70 Naira (about .40 Euro) per liter. A government attempt to raise the price from 65 to 75 Naira was a cause of the recent labor unrest. Not sure if they went all the way back to 65 or not.

Cost of generation depends on scale, larger generators are more efficient but that also depends on them being loaded close to capacity. Plus the maintenance costs of the generator and the capital cost in buying it to begin with.

I've found specs on 20KW diesel generators that list consumption as between 4 and 6 liters/hour.

Posted: Mon Aug 06, 2007 12:30 am

Thanks, ratter.
I�d like to find a general rule. The only experience I have was from some camping weekends when a friend had a diesel generator which needed about 1l an hour, but it was only used for the stereo and some electric lights, not even for an oven...

So when a lad cafe, sorry, internet cafe, needs a decent machine in times of shortage how much does this increase the costs per KWh roughly?

I do not plan anything baiting related, it was just one of the many questions regarding their economies, cities, political leaders etc. etc. I stumbled upon when I wanted to find out more. And I could not find an easy rule for this one regarding energy costs.

Posted: Mon Aug 06, 2007 12:53 am

@Frumpy, it looks like about 5 to 1, not counting capital costs which really push up the tab; see below from this site:

Quote:

Power Outage Cost Analysis
While electricity from PHCN accounted for about 60% of total electricity consumption by the firms, the average cost per kWh is N8.5. Auto-generation accounted for only 40% of electricity consumption, but the average cost was N40.47 per kWh. The audits show that 262 firms spent nearly N2 billion on privately supplied electricity in 2003.

Firms lost 900 working hours to power outages in 2003;

Assuming an eight-hour working day, this translates to about 113 working days in 2003. Also, about 35% of the firms reported having to shut down production at one time or the other in the year as a result of power outages.

The annualized cost of generator to the firms is N318.63 per kW.

Annualized other capital items like generator house (N282.57); stabilizer (N20.51); fuel oil tank (N100.46); and others (N256.98 ). Thus the capital cost of keeping a generator is N700 per kW.

For the industrial sector, existing measure of outage costs vary between $2.27 to $32.46/kWh of unserved electricity. Residential outage costs vary between $0.05 and $24.61/kWh unserved.

PHCN = Power Holding Company of Nigeria

Posted: Mon Aug 06, 2007 1:21 am

Thanx!

(and, wow: You ARE quick! Shocked

)
5:1...should have guessed it�s as bad as that
And the additional costs: What a severe loss for the economy!

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