Engr. Uzoma Achinanya Managing Director

Engr. Uzoma Achinanya is the Managing Director of Emtech Energy Services Ltd, Abuja, Nigeria. Some of his Core Competences are Utility Business Analysis and Performance Management, Power System Planning, Electricity Market Regulations and Operations, and Electricity Utility Investment Planning.  Prior to 2012, when he became the MD/CEO of Emtech Energy, he was in the Nigerian Electricity Industry, where he served for 31 years, in many capacities and at various locations.

He joined the services of the Nigerian Electricity Industry in 1981, and served severally in different capacities across the various tiers of the power sector including generation, transmission and distribution. He was for several years the District Manager for the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. He was also the Assistant General Manager (Distribution) in-charge of Abuja Zone covering three states of the country, and the Federal Capital Territory. While in the Distribution Sector, he was responsible for network planning, construction, operation & maintenance.

He also served as the Assistant General Manager (AGM) in-charge of metering for the industry and subsequently the AGM (Marketing). In these roles, he was responsible for the specification, calibration, testing and administration of Electricity Metering systems (for revenue and grid energy measurements), nation-wide, as well as the development of marketing strategies, monitoring and evaluation of performance of the electricity market. He developed the framework for the national pre-payment metering programme that brought about the introduction and mass implementation of pre-payment meters, as a strategy for improved revenue generation and collection, in Nigeria. He also served as the national coordinator of the Revenue Cycle Management (RCM) Project where his role included revenue protection and assurance, which resulted in significant improvement in revenue collection in the Nigerian electricity industry.

Following the commencement of the reform of the Nigerian Electricity Industry in 2004, he was appointed the first Market Operator for the Industry. In this role he was responsible for the day to day administration of the Nigerian wholesale electricity market. His major responsibilities as the Market Operator included administration of the Market Rules and Procedures for the Nigerian Electricity Market, administration of the Metering System for the trading points, administration of Market Settlement, Collection and Payment Systems for commercial stability in the market. He developed a performance monitoring matrix for the various Discos which was used to monitor their performance to ensure that set targets were met. He also supervised the implementation of the wholesale electricity tariffs (Generation, Transmission and Distribution), for the Nigerian electricity market.  As the Market Operator, he was also the Business Analyst for the Nigerian Electricity Market and has done a lot of work on liquidity issues in the Nigerian Electricity Market.

As the pioneer Market Operator, Engr. Achinanya played an active role in the power sector reform programme in Nigeria where he participated in the development of most of the key operating documents like the Market Rules, Market Procedures, Metering Code, Market Participation Agreements, etc. As the Market Operator, he was responsible for the administration of the Power Purchase Agreements with the Independent Power Producers, such as Shell, Agip, ENRON/AES, etc. He was also responsible for the administration of the Interconnection Agreements between the Transmission Company of Nigeria and Utilities in some neighbouring countries provided with power supply from Nigeria

In July 2010, he was appointed the Senior Special Assistant to the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria on Electric Power Distribution and Market Operations. He also served as Senior Performance Monitor for the Presidential Task Force on Power (PTFP) and was responsible for performance monitoring of the successor companies.

As a consultant he has worked on various assignments including providing regulatory support and commercial services on Energy Loss and Revenue Cycle Management to Kaduna Electricity Distribution Company; providing Consultancy services on “Customer & Asset Enumeration and Energy Reconciliation for Eko Distribution Company and providing Consultancy in “Analytics and Advisory Services for Payment Settlement and Administration for the Nigeria Bulk Electricity Trader (NBET). He has provided consultancy services to the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) on the TCN-Disco Interface Assessment and Investment Verification, in order to establish gaps preventing the dispatch of the available generation capability of the nation, as well as to identify the investments needed to close the established gaps. Engr. Achinanya has been involved in a number of projects sponsored by the International Donor Agencies like the World Bank, United States Agency for International Development (USAID), European Union (EU), etc in Nigeria, West Africa and Africa

Engr. Achinanya has also been involved in numerous capacity building programmes where he assists in building capacity of stakeholders in electricity market regulation and operations, trading arrangements, revenue protection and assurance, as well as utility management and investment planning.  He currently acts as a resource person for the National Power Training Institute of Nigeria on training programmes in Electricity Markets and Utility Management.