It would sound cliche to say that there’s currently poor power supply in Nigeria, as most people are already used to excuses the sector operators give as reasons for insufficient electricity.
Just yesterday, Power Generation Companies, GenCos, said that the nation’s power generation capacity crashed down from the initial manageable 9000 MegaWatts to 6000 Megawatts.
According to the executive secretary, Association of Power Generation Companies, APGC, Joy Ogaji, part of the drop is that not all of the current capacity is presently utilised by GenCos due to various challenges.
Ogaji made this known during a panel session at the Nigeria Oil and Gas, NOG Conference and Exhibition in Abuja.
She noted that the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, NERC, earlier licenced 160 power generation companies for optimal performance, yet, a small number of 25 are currently functional.
This simply means that One Hundred and Thirty-five issued licences are lying dormant, adding that such thermal stations would contribute immensely once activated.
Another reason for the epileptic power supply in the country is that the three hydropower plants, namely: Kainji, Jebba and Shiroro, with an installed capacity of 1,500 MegaWatts, were also not being optimally utilised.
Apart from power generation challenges, APGC’s Executive Secretary hinted that limited gas supply has also become a significant setback facing GenCos and responsible for the drop in electricity.
Solutions to Poor Power Supply in Nigeria
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The solution to the poor power supply in Nigeria, according to Ogaji, is partly attached to arrangements with the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, if it accepts to provide sixty per cent amount of gas requested by the power companies.
Meanwhile, agreement on the part of NNPC would instantly empower GenCos to achieve its vision to generate 30,000 MegaWatts come 2030.
She noted that other reliable sources for acquiring environmentally-friendly electricity from renewable energy would be up to 3000 MegaWatts and 27,000MW from the power plants.
The only form of encouragement hinted by the executive secretary is that once the inoperative companies become active, Nigeria will join the league of nations generating an additional 30,000MW.
She said, “The 25 plants currently operating have a combined installed capacity of over 13,000MW and, unfortunately, has dropped in recent times.”
Recalling records from last year, Ogaji noted that the GenCos almost approached 9000 MegaWatts power capacity. Still, for some unforeseen circumstances, the stakeholders did not achieve the goal.