Sokoto, Oct 11, 2016 – Power generation nationwide has experienced a drastic reduction, dropping by 3,166 megawatts. President Muhammadu Buhari had reported in his independent address that power generation peaked at 7, 300 megawatts.
Stakeholders made the revelation at a meeting in Sokoto. The meeting was attended by Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Fashola and stakeholders in the region.
“The meeting acknowledged the progress in delivering incremental power. Current reports indicated 3500MWh/h delivered by the national grid which represents a steady improvement over the past few months.
“The meeting noted that a recent performance report on the power sector reported an average of 3,166MW of power currently unavailable due to gas shortages caused by pipeline vandalism”, the stakeholders noted.
The meeting also noted that the remaining vandalised gas pipelines will shortly be repaired. NERC informed the meeting that Port Harcourt has been sanctioned, and Benin, Kano and Enugu Distribution Companies would be sanctioned for not complying with sector directives regarding submission of audited accounts.
NERC consequently directed DISCOS to submit financial statements of their companies in accordance with the provision of their licenses.
The NDPHC announced the completion of Alaoji to Ikot Ekpene 330kv DC line, as well as Calabar to Ikot Ekpene 330kv DC line, following the resolution of community issues in Itu and Oronta. Following the quality assessment by NEMSA, this line will be energized. Ikot Ekpene switching station is expected to be commissioned at the end of October. These transmission projects are critical to improvements in grid reliability in the country.
NNPC informed the meeting of a promising outlook on gas by the end of the third quarter of 2016 and that the strategy for gas supply improvement involve restoring previous supply level by completing repairs of ELPS 24” pipeline by mid-November 2016, and incremental supply through new supply additions from the following projects: NPDC Oredo 2, Utorogu NAG2, Odidi, Giga gas and TEPNG.
