Nigeria Power Generation Clash to 1,327MW lowest in History

 

The Minister of Power said on Friday that power generation has dropped to 1.327MW all time low just a few days before handover of Power to Buhari
He added that power suppy has dropped from a peak of 4500 as of April 3 to 2800 of March 30,revealing that most key power plant in the country has been shut down including those at Chevron Oredo,Utorogu, Oben gas-fired power plants,while Ughelli and Chevron Escravos power plant were all isolated already,he added that the eastern axis, Shell Gas, Alakiri plants were shut down also.

Other power plant affected are  National Integrated Power Plants (NIPPs) – Egbin, Olorunshogo 1 & 11, Omotosho 1& 11, Geregu I & 11, Ihonvor and Sapele on the western axis and Alaoji on the eastern end.

The permanent secretary and the minister of Power briefing the vice president Namadi Sambo of the worsen power generation,transmission and distribution,

He blame strike by the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) and the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas (NUPENG), which began on Tuesday, for the worsening supply.

“On the eastern axis Shell Gas, ALAKIRI has also been shut down. This has led to the several power plants being stranded and shutdown”.

“This includes EGBIN, OLORUNSHOGO I & 11, OMOTOSHO 1& 11, GEREGU I & 11, IHONVOR and SAPELE (NIPP) on the western axis and ALAOJI on the eastern end,” the permanent secretary said.

He said besides pipeline vandalism which has continued to have very negative impact on the power supply in the country, the ongoing strike by the labour unions in the oil and gas sector has added additional toll.

“The overall effect is that power supply which had started picking up steadily since the beginning of the week following repairs of various vandalised portions of the ELP Line and the Trans-Forcados Gas Pipelines, has fallen to all-time-unprecedented low of 1,327m was at 1.00 p.m. May22, 2015,” Mr. Igali said.

“With the strike, which has gone on for one or two days, there is a dramatic turn in the level of power supply in the country, with the level going down to the all-time low level of 1,327 megawatts (MW),” he said.

“So, if you look at it from 4,800 MW level it was until recently, there is a dramatic turn, the loss is terrible,’’ he said.

He warned the situation might get worst if the strike continues