Power supply drops by 1,047MW

Power supply to households and businesses in the country has fallen below the 4,000 megawatts mark as 1,047.3MW was lost in seven days, data obtained from the Presidential Task Force on Power showed on Tuesday.

Last week, electricity from the national grid hit a record high of 4,810.7MW, which was achieved at 8:45pm on August 25.

The Transmission Company of Nigeria had then said the new peak followed the record set the previous day, August 24, when 4,748MW was wheeled by its network.

But electricity generation stood at 3,843.16MW on Monday, August 31, while 3,763.40MW was sent out, according to the PTFP.

On Sunday, August 30, generation was 4,117.73MW, while 4,029.83MW was sent out, data from the Federal Ministry of Power showed.

The dip in power generation and supply followed the shutdown of both the Trans Niger Pipeline and Nembe Creek Trunkline late last week.

Shell Petroleum Development Company had last Thursday declared force majeure on the export of Bonny Light crude oil, one of Nigeria’s main export grades, effective August 27, 2015, following the shutdown of both the TNP and the NCTL.

The Manager, Corporate Media Relations of the SPDC, Mr. Precious Okolobo, had said a leak was reported on the TNP at Oloma in Rivers State, while the NCTL was shut down for the removal of crude theft points, adding that the SPDC was working to repair and reopen the two lines as quickly as possible.

The Trans Niger Pipeline transports about 180,000 barrels of crude oil per day to the Bonny Export Terminal and is part of the gas liquids evacuation infrastructure critical for continued domestic power generation at the Afam VI power plant and liquefied gas exports, Shell said in a statement on its website.

Afam VI power plant has a generation capacity of 624 MW.

The Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Power, Ambassador Godknows Igali, on Monday said electricity had been stable in the country lately because there was no case of gas pipeline vandalism.

He recalled that vandalism was the bane of electricity supply during the last administration.

He said things improved with the decision of the current administration to engage the communities through which the pipelines pass.

This, he said, led to increased gas supplies and improved power supply nationwide currently at 4,600MW.