Power generation inches up to 2,789mw

By The Rainbow

Power generation in the country inched up to 2,788 megawatts (mw) Monday as against 2,628mw on Saturday.

Power generation had dropped sharply at the weekend following low gas supply to generating plants.

Minister of Power,  Professor Chinedu Nebo, said three power stations in the East, Afam IV, Afam VI, and Rivers Independent Power Plant (IPP), were shut down again last Friday night as a result of gas constraints.

According to him, this deficit in gas supply arose from condensate issue on the Trans Niger Pipeline (TNP).

The minister put total generation loss from the stations at 624mw.

However, Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) said it had fixed the TNP that was damaged, which caused leakage on the pipeline leading to the shut down of Okoloma Gas Plant.

SPDC's spokesperson, Precious Okolobo, was quoted as saying the repair work on the pipeline had been completed.

He said  the company was working on the condensate challenge, which it hoped to resolve very soon to enable gas flow to the gas plant so that power generation would continue seamlessly.

Latest indicators show that Egbin Power Plant currently generates 588mw, Kainji 57mw, Jebba 85mw, Shiroro 389mw, Delta 255mw, Geregu 70mw, Geregu NIPP 152mw, Olorunsogo NIPP 105mw, Omotosho 178.4mw, Sapele NIPP 70.8mw, Okpai 422mw, AES 178.5mw.

The Federal Government, on the other hand, has promised to arrest the crisis in the gas sector, which is affecting the power generation in parts of the country negatively. The minister of power made this known last weekend while explaining the current grid generation situation, he attributed to the low gas supply to the generation plants in the area.

'It is currently assembling a crack team of experts across the oil industry to investigate in particular the cause of the severe leaks in the gas supply channels in the Eastern part of the country and determine measures to be taken to ameliorate the situation,' the minister said.

He said Olorunsogo Power Station was also down due to low gas pressure as a result of which 89mw of power was lost, while low-head water elevation was also limiting generation at Kainji and Jebba hydro stations to one unit each.

A total grid generation as of 6am on Saturday was 2628.6mw, he said, adding that with this low level generation, management of the grid was currently a big task, necessitating a nationwide load shedding.

The drop in generated electricity, according to Nebo, was as a result of severe leaks in the supply of gas to some strategic power plants across the country.

Nebo, according to a statement on Saturday, which was signed by Kande Daniel, his special assistant on media and communication, described the development as worrisome, saying Olorunsogo Power Station was also down due to low gas pressure, and as a result, 89mw of power was lost.

It was painful that this was happening when many Nigerians were already rejoicing and celebrating over the stabilisation of power nationally, he said.