The Nation Newspaper

Tag: power supply

  • Why power supply dropped, by NNPC chief

    The loss of 400 million standard cubic feet per day (mscf/d) of gas and reduction in water level at the hydro plants are responsible for the significant drop in power supply across the country especially in the western axis, Group Executive Director, Gas and Power, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Dr David Ige, has said.

    Ige who represented its Group Managing Director, Dr Joseph Dahwa at the ongoing Offshore Technology Conference in Houston, United States, said it is a short term challenge that would be addressed shortly.

    Ige who spoke after inspecting the Nigerian pavilion, said some major pipelines are out of operation because they were vandalised while generation at Shiroro hydro power plant dropped by about 300 megawatts (Mw) because of insufficient water level.

    He said: “At the moment, gas supply to power stations is about one billion cubic feet a day (bscf/d). Before the end of this year we expect to see a significant increase as well. Cumulatively in the country, we are producing about two billion cubic feet of gas per day. Some of the gas we produce are available but is probably stranded because some of the power plants are not ready. For example, we have got gas at Gbaran-Ubie power plant, which hopefully should be commissioned shortly. We have gas at Omoku, which is awaiting the power plant. We have gas at Egbema power plant. When you bring all these gas volumes together, we have close to 2 billion cubic feet per day.

    “But not all of it is in active generation today, either because the power is not ready, or the gas evacuation is not ready. On the Western side of Nigeria where the power plants are ready, we have a shortage of 400 mscf/d of gas, which we expect that before the end of this year, we would have reduced that significantly as some of our projects come on stream. So, over the next 12-18 months we expect leveling up on our supply to the power sector. Lagos Escravos pipeline is almost completed, we expect within the next three months, the project will be done. We have completed and commissioned Lagos to Oben. We have completed Emure, all the way to Itoki in Lagos. The beat that is left now, is from the Benin end all the way to Emure. That is progressing very well. The expectation is that before the end of August this year, the pipeline would have been completed and would have doubled the capacity to 2 billion cubic feet per day, which should be the biggest pipeline in Africa.”

    He also noted that the government is havin a lot of issues in the power sector. For the past three months, the Escravos – Lagos pipeline between Escravos, Ogidi and Warri axis has been down due to vandalism, he said.  “It has taken us this long to repair that pipeline because of the elections as the Joint Task Force (JTF) could not provide adequate security for our people to go in there and access it. It was only after the elections that people could access the place.

  • Power supply now 2,979.06Mw

    Power supply now 2,979.06Mw

    The Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry (NESI) yesterday recorded a marginal increase, as energy sent out by the Transmission Company Nigeria (TCN) hit 2,893.7 megawatts (MW) on Saturday from its 2,834.30Mw supply on April 26.

    This resulted in an increase of 56.4Mw in the electricity market, said the Ministry of Power in its power statistics.

    In the period under review, the electricity market  recorded 68.84Mw stranded power the TCN could only evacuate 2,979.06MW out of the 3,042.90Mw  which the Electricity Generation Companies (Gencos) produced.

    The ministry noted that the market reached a peak power production of 2,893.7Mw which was an anomaly as energy generation was higher than peak energy.

    It would be recalled that having  failed to meet a target of 5,000Mw last year, the ministry early this year increased its 2015 power generation target to 6,000MW, next year’s to 10,000 and pegged that of 2017 at 12,000Mw.

    Although the administration winds down in 23 days time, the Minister of Power, Prof Chinedu Nebo said  there exists a 5,500Mw generation capacity in the market, especially with the commissioning of new power plants this year.

    In reality, the NESI is yet to actually maintain an average of 4,000Mw power supply steadily in a week.

    The highest peak power generation recorded in the market so far was the 4,517.6 Mw  of December 23, 2012.

    The prolonged challenges in the market have been shortage of gas supply owing to frequent vandalism of the gas pipelines and inadequate water for the hydro power plants in dry season.

    According to the chairman, Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), Dr. Sam Amadi, this has affected revenue generation and metering in the industry.

    He said: “Two things are holding back  aggressive metering : financing and quantity of power. If you are selling 60,000Mw you have more money to finance metering. But if you are because of pipeline vandalisation and others we are selling 3,000Mw, then you have less revenue for metering.

    “Let’s be realistic, if we are generating   3,500 or 4,000, there is no way …we don’t have adequate power for reasons you know. Some of them gas. We are still building the power plants. So even if, you have 6,000 Mw you will not still have 100 percent power supply. “

  • Power outage: Students read under street light

    Power outage: Students read under street light

    A tour to Yaba College of Technology (Yabatech) Yaba, Lagos in the middle of the night would leave one wondering what time of the day it really could be as students floored the street reading for the forthcoming examination.

    There is no denial that the spirit of examination has inspired these students to read but definitely in different ways.

    While some students are actively engaged with their books and other educational materials, some others are engaged in a chat, playing, and shouting. For them, the maxim: ‘All read without play makes Jack a dull boy’ perfectly fits.

    Interestingly, while some took to the streets to find academic inspirations, their colleagues decided to the god of the classroom for their inspiration. Hopefully, everyone is inspired towards achieving success in the examination.

    When asked why the street has suddenly become source of inspiration, it was discovered that their action was motivated out of the lack of power supply on the campus.

    Further probe into the situation revealed that the institution has been devoid of Power supply for a couple of days, running into the exam period.

    Sadly, the institution would not entertain the excuse of lack of power supply as the reason why any student would perform poorly in the examination. Thus, the need to seek alternative but cost free power supply – Street light.

    The institution, which has being deserted for some days after the vacation of full time students, regained its liveliness as part time students prepare for examination.

    Although, practical examinations have begun with some departments of the institution, the other departments are expected to join soon.

  • Power supply peaks at 2,988.72Mw

    Power supply peaks at 2,988.72Mw

    Power supply from the Nigerian Electricity  Supply Industry (NESI) was 2,988.72 Megawatts (Mw) Sunday, it was learnt yesterday.

    Although the  Electrity Generation Companies (Gencos) produced 3,060.37Mw, the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) was unable to evacuate 71.58Mw being stranded energy, power statistcis of April 12 posted on the website of the Federal Ministry of Power, has shown.

    The statistics also showed that on that date,  the market attained a peak energy generation of 3,263.6Mw.

    Following this statistics, the ministry which targets 6,000Mw this year  still needs 2939.7Mw to meet its target.

    Minister of Power, Prof. Chinedu Nebo had noted that the market has over 5,000Mw generation capacity and 5,500Mw transmission capacity but the TCN has never evacuated 4000Mw.

    There have been issues with low water level in the hydro based power plants of the market. Besides, gas issues have not been completely resolved in the NESI, which have culminated in the epileptic power supply.

    A  statement emdorsed by the TCN General Manager (Public Affairs) Seun Olagunju explained that there was failure of power equipment in Kaduna 330KV sub-station that resulted in a power outage.

    The failure was caused by the tripping of Kaduna – Jos and Jos – Gombe 330kV transmission lines.

    “As a result, customers of electricity on the Plateau, Gombe and Maiduguri transmission complexes are experiencing power outage.

    “Failure of the yellow phase of the Current Transformer equipment (CT), resulted in the spewing of insulation oil and consequently tripping of the Kaduna – Jos 330kV transmission line, which supplies electricity to Plateau, Gombe, Maidugiri and environs.

    “The statement added that as soon as the explosion occurred, TCN’s quick response engineering team mobilized to the site of the incident, evaluated the damage on the equipment and are in the process of retrofitting another unit to supply power temporarily to the affected areas. Arrangements are also ongoing to move a complete new set of three phase CT from Ojo stores Lagos to Kaduna transmission substation for the permanent replacement of the faulty CT.

    “By the on-going modification, the temporal CT is expected to be completed and installed not later than Friday, 10th April, 2015, power supply will be restored immediately after installation is completed.

    “TCN affirms that it will continue to work hard at enhancing transmission capacity and reliability nationwide to ensure an improved and sustained power delivery.

    “TCN regrets any inconvenience the outage is causing the governments and good people of Kaduna, Plateau, Gombe, Bornu States and environs.”

     

  • Power supply drops to 2,676.54MW

    Power supply has dropped to 2,676.54Mega Watts (MW), it emerged at the weekend.

    It was learnt the reduction was due to attack on one of the nation’s most critical gas pipelines, the Escravos Lagos Gas Pipeline A (ELPSA), last Wednesday and the blowing up of an explosive device at Egwa near Batan, in Gbaramatu Kingdom, Delta State.

    The energy generation, according to Statistics, posted on the Ministry of Power’s website on March 11 was 2,747.45MW.

    Besides, peak generation dipped to 3,770.3MW.

    The Transition Company of Nigeria (TCN) could not evacuate 70.91MW of the total energy generated in the period under review.

    The Minister of Power, Prof. Chinedu Nebo, explained that the pipeline attack led to a loss of 800MW.

    This attack, the fourth this year, came only hours after repairs on an earlier attack on Sunday March 1 were completed.

    A statement by his Special Assistant on Media, Kande Daniel, said the ministry was intensifying measures to check the frequency and effects of gas pipeline vandalism.

    The measures include heightened involvement of security agencies as well as the deployment of digital surveillance equipment to enhance the capability of security operatives to apprehend vandals.

    He assured that the Nigerian Gas Company and other sector experts had been instructed to continue effecting prompt repairs on damaged facilities.

    He stressed that the nation could now conveniently generate and wheel out over 4,500MW but for gas supply disruptions through vandalism.

  • Power supply dips to 2,886.87MW

    ELECTRICITY supply by the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry (NESI), which has been on a steady decline since last week, fell to 2,886.87 Megawatts on February 28.

    According to statistics published on Ministry of Power’s website yesterday, energy sent out fell from 3,063.23MW on February 25 to 2,886.87 MW in the period under review.

    The situation, which the ministry’s Deputy Director (Press), Mr. Timothy Oyedeji, blamed on routine gas pipeline maintenance by Seplat Limited, culminated in the loss of 175.36MW.

    He said: “Honestly, the last one I had was as a result of this maintenance work on the gas pipeline by Seplat.”

    From 3,623.11 MW of February 23, the market degenerated 3,063.23MW on February 25 from where it further dipped to the current 2,886.87 MW.

  • Fuel scarcity, power supply drop: ‘Evidence of Jonathan’s failure’

    Fuel scarcity, power supply drop: ‘Evidence of Jonathan’s failure’

    The APC Presidential Campaign Organisation (APCPCO) yesterday described the return of fuel queues in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, Lagos and some major cities and the reduction in the hours of electricity supply to Nigerians as sad reminders of the failure of the PDP-led Federal Government.

    Its spokesman, Mallam Garba Shehu, in a statement, said: “The glaring and inexcusable failure of the PDP government in these two important areas is a sign of gross ineptitude, maladministration and corruption, which is responsible for the sorry economic state the average citizen of Nigeria has found themselves”.

    It wondered how a political party, which has been in power for 16 years and which is unable to ensure that its citizens enjoy regular fuel supply being an oil producing and endowed country and electricity having privatised the power sector and given generous financial assistance to operators of the power sector can still feel confident to seek another term in office.

    The  3,623.11 Mega Watts (MW), which the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) sent out on February 23, dipped to   3,063.23MW on February 25, resulting in a fall by 559.88MW within two days.

    According to the power statistics on the website of Federal Ministry of Power yesterday, the power generated by the Electricity Generation Companies (Genco) was  3,131.08MW, out which the TCN could not wheel 67.85MW being the gap between the energy sent out and energy generated by the Gencos.

    Asked what is responsible for the drop in power supply, ministry’s Deputy Director, Mr. Timothy Oyedeji, said the last he heard of the situation  was that Seplat shut down for routine maintenance  of gas pipeline.

    In the period under consideration, the electricity market dropped to a peak power generation of 3,866.8 to 3,224.8MW, indicating a decline of 642MW.

    The statement said: “For the people of Nigeria to be again confronted with the specter of fuel scarcity so soon after the harrowing experience of last Christmas period shows that the Jonathan government can never get anything right as Nigeria will continue to be an embarrassment among the oil producing countries of the world.

    “The issue is that being unable to set up even one new refinery in the past five years and unable to get existing refineries to function up to 50 per cent capacity, the people of Nigeria surely need another set of people to be in charge of affairs.

    “Those who man the two critical sectors of fuel and power are cronies of President Jonathan and supporters of the PDP that they have no reason to discharge their mandate in favour of the Nigerian people.

    “We all remember the hype and fanfare with which the privatisation of the power sector was carried out and yet majority of Nigerians are having less electric power or none at all but are forced to pay outrageous electricity bills to the operators of the power companies who are either card-carrying members of the PDP or are close associates of President Goodluck Jonathan.

    “To add insult to injury, the Jonathan government has also given billions of naira to these operators under the guise of assisting them to improve power supply, without result. And this happened after the sector had been sold and the facilities handed over to these private operators.

    “We of the APC demand that the Jonathan government and his party explain to Nigerians the reason why fuel scarcity and blackout should persist making life a hell for Nigerians, despite huge investments and policies put in place to eradicate these problems”

    The APC Campaign Organisation (APCPCO) stressed that the return of fuel queues was a confirmation that the policies of the Jonathan administration are founded on deceit and insincerity.”

    Shehu argued that the recent fuel price reduction announced by the Federal Government was borne out of political expediency, rather than compassion, because the ruling party is desperate to cling to power at all costs, adding that all the emergency projects and palliatives being bandied about by the Jonathan government are intended to pull wool over the eyes of Nigerians.

    He said a PDP administration that greeted Nigerians with an unprecedented fuel price increase of N140 per liter in January 2012 has lost the basis to be trusted by Nigerians.

    Shehu said the return of fuel queues was like an accident waiting to happen because the recent reduction in petroleum product prices by the Jonathan PDP administration were not based on sincerity, adding that scales are dropping from the eyes of Nigerians day after day and are embracing the imperatives of change for a better Nigeria.

  • Residents protest poor power supply

    Residents protest poor power supply

    Residents of Papa Ashafa and Alagba Community Development Association (CDA) in Agege, Lagos marched yesterday on the Dopemu Distribution Centre of the Ikeja Electricity Distribution Company over incessant power outage and outrageous billing.

    About 70 residents, mostly youths and elderly men, said their communities have been in darkness for a couple of months.

    The protesters were led by the Youth Alliance for Better Nigeria. They held placards bearing different messages such as: Say no to power failure, crazy bills electricity, electricity rotations, Ikeja electric dramatic liars and saboteurs etc.

    A mild drama played out at the company premises, when they demanded immediate restoration of electricity to the area and a reversal of the outrageous bills from the company.

    The staffs of the company were overwhelmed by the fury of the residents before the intervention of the Branch Team Leader, Mr Banji Ogunleye and the Marketing Manager, Mr Victor Amaraegbu to calm the protesters.

    Speaking with The Nation, the group’s coordinator, Mr Moruf Niniola, said several appeals made to the company to address the power failure in the area fell on deaf ears. He said the company have denied residents of the area their pre-paid metre, even upon several approached.

    According to him, the bills being paid in the area has even got higher than the amount paid for house rent.

    He said many house owners are ejecting their tenants because of the dangers of generating sets.

    “That a house of six rooms must have six generator sets is worrisome and danger to our health. Many lives have been lost due to generator fume,” he said.

    He said the residents are spending their income to buy generator, fuel it and at the end of the month, pay for electricity which they didn’t use.

    “All we are saying is, we can’t just remain like this, suffering and smiling must end. The cheating is too much,” he said.

    A letter submitted by the communities demanded among others “the outright cancellation, rotation or shedding of the areas’ light; that in the absent of the pre-paid metre, the company should ensure the old metres are perfectly working and reading appropriately to prevent electric fraud.”

    They also demanded quick revisit of crazy bills to guaranteed transparency.

    Imam of Ike Anobi Mosque, Alhaji AbdulGaniu Salawudeen demanded to know if the government is swindling their money through the electricity company.

    We don’t understand what is happening. That for four to six months, there was no electricity in this area. Surprisingly, our bills kept increasing monthly. How can we pay for electricity we didn’t consume? They are killing us silently,” he said.

    Alhaja Asiata Fasobo, said she wondered how the residents should be levied heavily when there was no electricity supply.

    According to her, the people are running at a loss for doing business with generator, yet “we are still paying for electricity at the end of the each month.”

    She presented her recent bill, which stated that he consumed 456kilowatts, with a bill of N25, 000.

    Mr Adenekan Adebakin said their sufferings dated back to the days of the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN).

    Adebakin told The Nation that electricity in the area does not last longer than two minutes.

    Amaraegbu, commended them for the peaceful conduct of the exercise. He said the present transition programme in the country also affect the activities of the electricity company.

    “We have generating section, transmission section before the distribution section. I want to assure you that the government is doing so much to improve the generation and it is when the generating section is well established that the transmission will transfer to the distribution unit. If you look around here, there is no where we are generating electricity”, he pleaded.

  • ‘Erratic power supply challenge to digital press’

    The Chief executive Officer, Skysat Technology Limited, Mr. Izzat Debs, has identified erratic power supply as one of the major factors inhibiting the growth and prosperity of digital commercial press in the country.

    Speaking on the sideline with The Nation at the launch of Konica Minolta Bizhub Press C1100 digital printing machine in Abuja, Debs said the job creation potential of digital press cannot be overemphasised, adding that the young crop of digital printers in Shomolu, a Lagos suburb, started out with products from Konica Minolta and graduated to be what they are today.

    He said though the government has been trying its best to fix the challenge in the power sector, more still needs to be done to encourage small and medium scale (SMEs) play more significant role in the digital printing space.

    He said:  “Of course, if the government can really resolve the power issue, there will be so many commercial presses that will be opened. Power is something that is challenging for everyone.”

    He said the firm has made local human capital development the cornerstone of its operations in the country as 90 per cent of the engineers that offer after-sales services for the machines are from Nigeria.

    Debs said: “Our engineers are 90 per cent Nigerians though with foreign technical support. This is one area we emphasis on. We take a lot of Nigerians to Germany for training. The engineers are already on the field. They are trained specifically to handle any issue concerning the machine should the need arise at all. They are comprised of technical team with certificate from Konica Minolta. Every one of the engineers has their own levels such as masters and so on.

    “Our engineers have already completed examination on Konica Minolta. We are not only doing product certification, we are also doing technical certification on Konica Minolta to service those machines.

    “Over the past few years too, we have helped to create employment opportunity for young Nigerians.”

    Speaking on the machines, he said they are the latest technology in town and built to take care of the power realities in the country. According to him, the warranty that the firm received its manufacturers from overseas is three months, adding that training of the final consumers of the product is part of the deal.

    “We do a lot of training for the operators. It is all part of the package that we sell. We don’t just sell these printers to you, we also train the operators so they know how to use the machines and they reduce the minimum level of down time and break downs. “There is also the service agreement with the customers that could be signed in the contract. It could be yearly service agreement in which case, for one year, your machine is always taken care of. For us, we feel duty-bound to give the best to our customers.”

    On availability of consumables, he said the service centres of the firm are spread all over the country. “We have offices in Lagos, Victoria Island and Ikeja; we have in Abuja, Kano, and Port Harcourt and in more remote areas, we need to send the goods by air transportation so the down time is reduced to the barest minimum. We have very big stock of consumables available in all service centres to make sure that the customer doesn’t have any interruption in the process of production,” he said.

  • Power supply now 3,791.66Mw

    Power supply now 3,791.66Mw

    The  Electricity Distribution Companies (Discos) received a total of 3,791.66megawatts (Mw) from the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) on 25th January.

    Data released by the Ministry of Power and posted on its website yesterday, said the electricity market recorded energy generation of 3,864.00Mw.

    Of this generated energy, the TCN could not evacuate 72.34Mw. Besides, the peak generated energy was  4,291Mw.

    The ministry’s penultimate statistics of January 18, showed that the TCN evacuated 3,562.75Mw, showing that power transmission increased by 228.91Mw within seven days.

    Generated energy that was 3,636.29Mw last week has now increased by 227.72 Mw while the peak generation that was  3986.6Mw has increased by 304.4Mw.

    Prior to this boost, the power plants  had grappled with challenges of gas  supply shortage following the vandalisation of Trans Forcados Pipeline.

    Responding to the power shortage at the weekend, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) Executive Director, Gas and Power, Dr. David Ige noted that vandalism always causes  the shutting down of the power plants.

    He said: “We have varied production effects from the vandalism in terms of crude oil, condensate and gas, and it runs in thousands of barrels every day.

    “And when you shut down production of gas from the western axis where we produce close to 1000 million cubic feet per day of gas and every day, when you shut down that, it is not just the cost of shutting it down but the consequential cost of the power plants that are sitting idle and so many other costs. And so the cost is huge.”