Optimising resources towards addressing Nigeria’s epileptic power sector
The wobbling state of power is one of the pulling strings constituting debilitating forces compounding with several other disturbances to give weakening definitions to the profile of the Nigerian economy. The definitions of the state of the sector have been a subject coloured with disarray of deficient characters. The definitions of the working profile apparently lean strongly towards steeping operations stiffened with destabilising factors which have given the sector a character of inconsistency. Concern over the power sector have heightened to troubling dimensions as the inconsistencies of the sector have tarried too long in the state of huge deficits which are undesirable for the Country’s economy. It is indisputable that if the Country’s economy would experience change in the prevailing worsening narrative, addressing the wobbling profile of such infrastructures of significant value to the economy as required in the power sector is imperative.
It is apparent that the character of deficiencies within the system is such that extend across the architectures of the working lines of operations in the sector. From generation, transmission to distribution, the existing deficits in the working infrastructures have created lacunae along the chain of operations within the sector. Conflicting parameters in the system have continued to dovetail in the wrong radar to make the formations of the entire architecture prone to producing wobbling output characterised by fluttering inconsistencies. From shortfalls within the three major formations within the system, the production of power in the Country has thus assumed a profile of inconsistencies which make the output from the architecture unreliable, and by reason, hostile to boosting the economy.
Reports on power productivity over the weekend, showed that twelve power plants in Nigeria could not generate about 1,609.9 megawatts of their total installed capacity on Sunday as a result of gas constraints. As of Sunday morning (6:00AM), according to data obtained from the Nigerian Electricity System Operator (NESO), it was reported that the total unutilised electricity generation capacity in the Country stood at 2,242.1MW. The deficiencies were attributable to low load demand by the distribution companies, water management and gas constraints which stalled the generation of 632.2MW. According to reported data from the NESO, the biggest power plant in the Country, Egbin, had its output declined to 712MW as of 6am on Sunday from 832MW on Saturday. Ten plants, including six plants built under the National Integrated Power Project (NIPP) were observed to have crumbled to zero productivity, without producing any megawatts of electricity as of 6am same day. Other plants which were reported idle include the Sapele NIPP, Alaoji NIPP, Olorunsogo NIPP, Omotosho NIPP, Ihovbor, Gbarain, Ibom Power, AES, ASCO and Egbin ST6.
It would be recalled that barely two weeks now, on Thursday, April 16, it was similarly reported that nine power plants were then shut down, which was why power outages had persisted recently across the Country. The Ministry of Power had in a statement recognising that power outages had been bedeviling Nigeria, said: “The Ministry of Power is not unaware of the current power outages and shortages bedeviling many parts of the country. The problem is caused by the breakdown of some National Integrated Power Plants supplying electricity to the national grid.” Meanwhile, the Minister of Power, Sale Mamman, had in addition said the Jebba Power Plant was shut down for annual maintenance, while seven other integrated power plants, — Geregu, Sepele, Omotosho, Gbarain, Omuku, Paras and Alaoji —- according to him were experiencing gas constraints, and the Shiroro plant had water management problems. The Ministry had then stated that the unfortunate development had drastically affected power generation, thus effectively minimising the national grid.
Earlier in April, electricity generation in the Country was also reported to have fallen below the 4,000 megawatts mark on Sunday April 11, as 11 plants went idle, just as several others suffered decline in output. The total power generation then fell to 3,922.2MW as of 6am April 11 from 4,394MW on Saturday April 10 according to reported data obtained from NESO. Eleven of the power plants on the national grid were reported not to have generated any megawatts of electricity on the day in question. The idle plants included six of those built under NIPP, namely Geregu II, Sapele II, Olorunsogo, Omotosho, Ihovbor, Gbarain, Afam IV&V, Ibom Power, AES, ASCO and Egbin ST6. The data had showed that generation capacity of 2,830.7MW could not be utilised as at that particular time same day, as a result of gas constraints, low load demand by the distribution companies and water management. According to the April 11 records, Egbin, Nigeria’s biggest power station, saw its output drop to 664MW comparatively from 882MW the previous day.
It is well known that power generation in Nigeria is sourced largely from gas-fired power plants which is responsible for about 70 per cent, while output from hydropower plants makes up for about 30 per cent of the total generation. According to records, NESO had pegged Nigeria’s installed generation capacity at 12,954.40MW; available capacity at 7,652.60MW; transmission wheeling capacity at 7,300MW; and the peak generation ever attained at 5,801.60MW.
Giving considerations to the performance of the power sector bring to sight the fact that any critical assessment of the productive capacity and the output of the system would reflect discrepancies and gaps which relatively give the sector a definition of infantry profile when comparative juxtaposition is made between the output of power architectures and the economic demands of the Country. It is apparent that the output of power supply reflects huge deficits when compared to both the commercial and domestic needs of electricity across the Country. It is therefore imperative and demanding on the Government to take a drastic turn of attention on the power necessity of the Nigerian economy.
In this light, the need to expand power infrastructures in the Country along all lines of the operating chain is imperative. It is significant that the Government consider the need to extend the generating sources of energy for power consumption to a height that bears resemblance to demands. The resources at the Country’s disposal place it at an advantage to have robust generation architectures to source energy from several sources. Hence, it is imperative for the Government to map out plans and strategies to extend the sourcing coast of power generation from the limited provision of gas and hydropower plants. The present architecture which is largely dependent on gas, has been characterised by inconsistencies which makes power supply unreliable in the Country.
Gas constraint has been known to be a major drawback to power generation in the Country. It is therefore essential for the Government to strengthen the generation capacity of power by navigating resources and strategies towards other sources of generating power, such as leveraging on solar and hydropower advantages. In this light, working patterns to develop the infrastructures of converting waste to energy is also one aspect the Government can leverage on to further optimise resources in the Country towards developing a robust power sector.
It is important for the Government to lead the course of strengthening the power sector to a virile level of efficiency and effectiveness to meet the economic demands of the Country. It is however essential that as the Government improves on the generation capacity of power sector, neglect of other operating architectures of the production line may not yield the expected results. Hence, such course towards developing the workings of the sector must be overarching to address the systemic deficits in each of the division of the sector from generation to distribution, in order to realistically address the epilepsy and inconsistencies in power output.
