A Technological Breakthrough: How Young Nigerian Engineer Invented Water Powered Generator

–By Yange Ikyaa

After decades of spending hundreds of billions of naira each year on the importation of premium motor spirit (PMS) and automotive gas oil (AGO) or diesel, much of it going into use in electricity generators to power homes and businesses, a made in Nigeria electricity generator that runs entirely on water is now a reality.

Designed and constructed by James Sylvester from Akoko Edo Local Government Area of Edo State, who studied electrical electronics engineering at the Federal University of Petroleum Resources, Effurun, the power facility that is now ready for use is what he called “the hydromangic electrical generator.”

According to Sylvester, during an exclusive interview with Valuechain, the mechanism of the water powered electricity generator made by him is a system that creates its own momentum once it is filled with water in its cylinder or tank and ignited.

 “It is an alternative to the conventional generator, it uses water, only water, and it just require small quantity of water that will be converted into energy,” he said.

Explaining further, Sylvester said: “The water increases its velocity once the electricity generator is started and it’s made to hit a turbine and the turbine is attached to a smart drive alternator that generates the electricity, and from there, the power being generated is stepped up to an appreciable level that can power appliances in homes and work places.

“It is a system that works continuously because water is cheap and you can get water anywhere, and the water put in the generator is not being used up such that a little quantity of water can last for months in the cylinder of this generator, while being used to meet energy needs in homes and offices on a daily basis.”

The young engineer said he just graduated from the university and is waiting for his posting for the mandatory one year National Youth Service Corps programme.

He acknowledged the assistance he enjoyed from the Nigerian Content Development and Management Board (NCDMB) during his quest to develop the water powered electricity generator that is now a technological reality and a big Nigerian engineering feat.

“I was funded by NCDMB for the production of this prototype that you can see here today, and I am waiting for the next level of the project, to fine-tune it for better performance, making it to be more advanced and even more efficient for possible market entry,” he told Valuechain.

Asked to comment on what he expects of his brilliant innovation, Sylvester said that “in the next few years, I want my innovation to be in every home and I want everybody to have it, that’s the more reason why I want investors to come in, to invest in it, to see how we can push it into the market so that everybody can have it and enjoy it.

“Presently, I am the only person with the idea in Nigeria and it is only with me, so I want everybody in the country to have it, experience it and enjoy it in within the shortest possible time. This, I want it to be affordable and accessible supplementary power source for Nigeria, especially in the rural areas where people lack access to the national power grid.”

It has been observed that the generator is environmentally friendly with no threat of pollution and noise to the users.

According to Sylvester, “that is why you can see me use it here in this closed environment. It can be kept indoors and used, which can further save cost with respect to theft mitigation, unlike the conventional fossil fuel powered electricity generators that require ventilated areas to operate and have to be kept outdoors and are frequently stolen in that process.”

This new discovery by Sylvester is capable of saving the country hundreds of billions of naira that is spent daily by households and businesses on fuel to power their generator sets.

Nigeria imported N819 billion worth of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) into the country in the second quarter of 2018. Data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) indicate that 4.79 billion litres of PMS were imported into the country in the period spanning through April, May and June of 2018, as quoted in its “Petroleum Products Imports and Consumption (Truck Out) Statistics’’ for the period under review.

The last known landing cost of the product was N171 per litre, meaning that Nigeria is also hugely spending on subsidizing the consumption of this fuel, a situation that the water powered generator now invented in the country can reverse or at least put in check.

According to data from the Petroleum Products and Pricing and Regulatory Agency (PPPRA), over N8.97 trillion has been expended on fuel subsidy under the Petroleum Support Fund (PSF) scheme in the ten years spanning between 2006 and 2016.

The agency said at the commencement of the programme in 2006, a total of N257 billion was spent on subsidy; N272 billion in 2007, N631 billion in 2008, N469 billion in 2009, N667 billion in 2010, and N2.105 trillion in 2011.

In 2012, N1.335 trillion was spent on subsidy, N1.316 trillion in 2013, N1.217 trillion in 2014, while N654 billion and N24 billion was spent in 2015 and 2016 respectively, showing a sharp decline in the figure of subsidy expenditure during the Buhari led government.

Also, according NBS reports, 1.11 billion litres of automotive gas oil (AGO) and 43.79 million litres of household kerosene (HHK) were imported into Nigeria in the second quarter 2018. The report said that 200.39 million litres of aviation turbine kerosene (ATK) was also imported into the country in the period under review.

It said the highest volume of 1.78 billion litres of PMS imported into the country was recorded in April, while the highest volumes of AGO and HHK were imported in June.

“Statewide distribution of truck-out volume for the second quarter showed that 4.89 billion litres of PMS, 1.17 billion litres of AGO and 168.83 million litres of HHK were distributed nationwide in the second quarter. About 176.98 million litres of ATK was also distributed nationwide during the period under review,’’ a further analysis of the report revealed.