Power Generation at Egbin Drops by 84% to 172MW

• Power Generation at Egbin Drops by 84% to 172MW

The nation’s electricity woes have worsened as generation from its biggest power station, Egbin, plunged to a record low of 172 megawatts on Tuesday, down from 1,085MW on March 15.

Eight of the nation’s 26 power plants were idle on Tuesday, according to industry data obtained by our correspondent.

Generation from Egbin, which is located in Lagos, with an installed capacity of 1,320MW, was said to have been limited to 172MW largely due to gas supply shortages.

Its units ST3, 4 and 5 were out due to gas constraints; ST1 was said to have tripped on generator CB trouble, and ST2 was not on spinning reserve due to a management decision.

The nation recorded a total system collapse on Thursday, November 24, the second time this month and the 20th time this year, the data showed.

The total national power generation fell to 3,224MW on Tuesday, down from 3,574.2MW on Monday.

Eight of the nation’s power generating plants, including Olorunsogo II in Ogun State and Ibom Power in Cross River, were completely idle on Tuesday.

Other plants, which did not generate any megawatts of electricity as of Tuesday, were Afam IV & V, Rivers IPP, Trans-Amadi, AES, ASCO and Gbarain.

Olorunsogo’s units GT1, 2, 3, 4 and ST2 were said to be out due to gas constraints, while ST1 was out on maintenance.

The GT1 unit of Ibom Power was out on guide vane problem, while GT2 and 3 were out due to maintenance of the gas station for 45 days since October 21.

Twelve units of Afam IV & V were said to have been de-commissioned and scrapped; units GT13, 14, 15 and 16 were out on blade failure; GT17 and 18 were out due to burnt generator transformer, while GT19 and 20 were awaiting major overhaul.

River IPP’s unit GT1 was reportedly out due to gas constraints, while Trans-Amadi’s GT1, 2 and 4 were out due to gas constraints and GT3 out on fault.

The AES was said to be out of production; ASCO’s GT1 was shut down due to leakage in the furnace, and Gbarain’s GT2 was out due to gas constraints.