Power Sector: Nationwide Power Generation Drops Drastically
Its not one of the best times in the Nigerian power sector as the nationwide power generation has plunged to 2,390 megawatts.
This is largely due to the rise in number of idle power plants from 7 to 15.
Total power generation has been hovering below 4,000 megawatts in recent months and stood at 3,741.30 megawatts as of 6 am on Sunday.
The nation generates most of its electricity from gas-fired power plants, while output from hydropower plants makes up about 30 per cent of the total.
But the three hydropower plants accounted for more than 50 per cent of the electricity generated as of 6 am on Monday, with Kainji Jebba and Shiroro producing 366 MW, 354 MW and 494 MW, respectively
The idle plants as at the time of this report are;
Sapele
Afam IV & V
Geregu
Omotosho
Geregu NIPP
Alaoji
Omotosho NIPP
Odukpani NIPP
Ihovbor NIPP
Gbarain NIPP
Okpai
Afam V
AES
ASCO
Rivers IPP
The Executive Secretary , Association of Power Generation Companies, the umbrella body for the Gencos , Dr Joy Ogaji, in an emailed response to questions from Punch Nigeria, attributed the problem to transmission and distribution. She said;
“Specifically, generation companies are pinned down by some operational impediments. The frequency of instructions to either increase load or decrease load (ramp up and ramp down) and, in some cases, shut down, has induced damaging stresses to the components of the machines.
“These instructions, reflective of the grid behaviour, are subjecting key electrical components of the power plants to operational stresses. Our available generation has always been steady between 7, 500 MW and 8, 000 MW; you can check the records at the National Control Centre, Osogbo.”
