…says 8 power plants have broken down
…No gas to generate 2000 MW available capacity — NDPHC
The Federal Government has apologised to Nigerians over the current power outages and shortages in various parts of the country.
This was caused by the breakdown of some National Integrated Power Plants (NIPP) supplying electricity to the national grid, the Federal Ministry of Power explained in a statement on Thursday.
However, a top official of Niger Delta Power Holding Company (NDPHC) said the company has 2000 mega watts (MW) capacity available but constrained by gas and recommended maintenance by Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM).
Aaron Artimas, who is the Special Adviser to the Minister on Media and Communications, listed the affected plants to include Sapele, Afam, Olonrunsogo, Omotosho, Ibom, Egbin, Alaoji, and Ihovbor.
He noted that while the Jebba Power Plant was shut down for annual maintenance, the Shiroro Power Plant has water management problems.
Seven other integrated power plants – Geregu, Sepele, Omotosho, Gbarain, Omuku, Paras, and Alaoji – are experiencing gas constraints.
Artimas decried that the condition of the plants has drastically affected power generation, leading to effectively minimising the national grid.
In a series of tweets on Thursday, the Minister of Power, Sale Mamman, regretted the unfortunate situation and offered his apology to all affected Nigerians for the inconveniences the power shortages have caused.
He, however, assured Nigerians that the ministry through the appropriate agencies was working assiduously to rectify the technical problems affecting the plants, as well as making effort to resolve the gas issues to the others.
The minister stated that the national grid would be restored to its previous historic distribution peak of about 5,600MW of electricity achieved earlier in 2021, so as to relieve Nigerians from the current harsh climatic conditions and restore full economic activities.
Meanwhile, a senior official of NDPHC stated that Alaoji and Calabar power plants owned by NDPHC are currently generating electricity to the grid. However, he lamented that power plants along the ELPS – Ogorode (Sapele), Benin, Omotosho and Olorunsogo as well as Geregu are all constrained by lack of gas supply.
“Although some of our units are on OEM recommended maintenance, we have as at now close to 2000 MW available and ready to generate to the grid but no gas supply,” he said.
He disclosed that there was no gas supply as a result of fault on Nigerian Gas Company ( NGC)pipeline.
“I also understand that many other generation companies are similarly challenged. We are in touch with our gas suppliers who are willing and ready to supply gas as soon as the gas transportation challenge is resolved,” he added.
He assured that the company is also working with the regulator — Nigeria Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) and Transmission Company of Nigetia (TCN) to resolve the current challenge of low generation in the country.