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Power supply drops to 2,345MW

By on May 10, 2015

The country’s power generation has dropped by about 500 megawatts to a record low of 2.391.31MW, while actual supply fell to 2,345.7MW, data obtained from the Presidential Task Force on Power on Friday showed.

This is happening amid worsening petrol scarcity being experienced in many parts of the country.

With the steep decline in generation, power supply from the national grid fell to 2,345.70MW on Thursday, taking a huge toll on households and businesses across the country.

Power generation stood at 2,880.72MW as of Tuesday, May 5, while 2,817.05MW was sent out, according to the Federal Ministry of Power.

The slide in power generation and supply came on the heels of the declaration of force majeure by Shell on exports of Nigeria’s Forcados crude oil stream on the evening of Tuesday following “a series of leaks” in the Trans Forcados pipeline that brings the oil to the export terminal.

The Trans Forcados pipeline is responsible for over 50 per cent of the country’s gas supply. This accounts for the reason the shut down created major power supply shortfall.

With the highest electricity generation of 4,517.6MW achieved only over two years ago (December 23, 2012), households and businesses in the country have over the years continued to rely heavily on generators for electricity.

But the lingering petrol scarcity, triggered by the delay in the payment of subsidy arrears to oil marketers, exacerbated the blackouts in various parts of the country as many Nigerians struggled to get fuel to power their generators.

In Lagos, some filling stations were not selling the product, while others had long queues of motorists to attend to, with black marketers having a field day.

The situation resulted to a significant hike in transport fares in many parts of the state, with some commercial transport operators doubling transport fares.

Power generation and supply in the country have dipped below the 3,000MW mark for at least seven times this year.

The PUNCH had on Saturday, May 2, reported that power supply dropped to 2,749.84MW on Thursday, April 30, citing data from the PTFP.

Generation on April 26 stood at 2,896.91MW, while 2,834.30MW was sent out to the public, the Federal Ministry of Power had disclosed.

Power supply slumped to 2,988.72MW as of April 12 on the back of gas shortfall and lower water supply to the nation’s thermal and hydropower plants respectively.

Gas-fired power plants generate about 70 per cent of the nation’s electricity, while the balance is derived from hydropower plants, including the Kainji and Jebba power stations, which have a combined installed capacity of 1,330MW.

Power generation had on March 11 dropped to 2,747.45MW, while 2,676.64MW was sent out to consumers, down from 3,505MW on March 8.

On February 10, electricity supply plunged to 2,869.84MW as only 2,936.83MW was generated that day, according to the PTFP.

On January 11, 2015, generation fell to 2,502.39MW, while 2,449.04MW was sent out. Generation fell to 2,948.45MW on January 6, while 2,880.31MW was sent out to the distribution companies.

The downturn in power generation has often been attributed to the sabotage of the Trans-Forcados Pipeline, which supplies gas to several power plants in the country.

Analysts at Ecobank Nigeria Research had said that Nigeria’s gas-to-power initiative was being significantly constrained by the frequent destruction of gas pipelines by saboteurs and oil thieves.

“The risk of vandalism affecting the government’s gas to power initiative is largely underpinned by the low level of investment in gas pipelines, leaving the country vulnerable to attacks on key pipelines,” the analysts said

 

[Punch]