Government

Power Grid Collapses 28 Times in Nine Months

Published

8 years ago

December 11, 2016

Power Grid Collapses 28 Times in Nine Months

The nation’s power grid has collapsed 28 times this year, the highest since 2011, as the quantum of spinning reserve aimed at forestalling such occurrence remains low.

The development, which was exacerbated by the upsurge in militant attacks on oil and gas facilities in the Niger Delta that affected gas-fired power plants, worsened the failure being experienced by households and business owners across the country.

Industry data obtained by our correspondent on Friday specifically showed that 22 total collapses and six partial collapses were recorded in March, April, May, June, July, September, October, November and December.

In the whole of 2014 and 2015, the grid collapsed 13 and 10 times respectively, with four partial collapses each.

The latest total system collapse recorded this year was on December 4, and three collapses occurred last month, the report stated.

In June, the grid recorded five total collapses and three partial collapses, the highest in the year. Seven collapses – six were total and one partial – occurred in May.

Three total collapses occurred in April, while two total collapses and one partial collapse were recorded in March. A total of three collapses were recorded in July, September and October.

The total national power generation stood at 2,876.6 megawatts as of 6am on Friday, down from a peak of 5,074.7MW on February 2.

Ten of the nation’s 26 power plants did not generate any megawatts of electricity on Friday.

They were Olorunsogo II, Ibom Power, Alaoji, Afam IV & V, Odukpani NIPP, Trans-Amadi, AES, ASCO, Rivers IPP and Gbarain.

Generation from Egbin, the nation’s biggest power station located in Lagos, stood at 161MW on Friday, down from 1,085MW on March 15 this year.

The increasing gas constraint largely occasioned by recent attacks on pipelines in the Niger Delta has left over 3,500MW of the nation’s power generation capacity idle.

The nation generates the bulk of its electricity from gas-fired power plants, while output from hydro-power plants makes up about 30 per cent of the total generation.

Generation from two of the nation’s hydro-power plants, Shiroro and Jebba, has reduced significantly in recent days.

Shiroro’s output fell to 150MW on Friday, down from 450MW a week ago; Jebba generated 384MW on Friday, compared to 471MW on December 2.

Out of the six power stations meant to provide spinning reserves, only one had actual reserve of 17.4MW as of 6am on Friday, the data showed.

The power stations are Egbin, Kainji, Delta, Olorunsogo II, Geregu II, and Omotosho II, with combined reserve capacity of 155MW.

Spinning reserve is the generation capacity that is online but unloaded and that can respond within 10 minutes to compensate for generation or transmission failure.

The reserve capacity and actual reserve of Egbin and Kainji stood at zero as of Friday, while the capacity and actual reserve of Delta were 40MW and zero, respectively.

Olorunsogo II and Geregu II had reserve capacity of 40MW and 35MW, respectively; while their actual reserves stood at zero.

The actual reserve at Omotosho II stood at 17.4MW out of a reserve capacity of 40MW, the data showed.

Explaining some of the causes of system collapse, the Chief Executive Officer, Eko Electricity Distribution Company, Mr. Oladele Amoda, said, “Sometimes, if a machine trips at a generation station and takes out a lot of load, it can cause it. At times, there could be problems on the transmission line. If any of the lines trips off, then there will be a load swing, which will destabilise the system.

“We are supposed to have a generator that is just running on standby so that if there is any chunk of load that is out of the system suddenly, that generator will just take it up and balance the load.”

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Samed Olukoya

Is the CEO and Founder of Investors King Limited. He is a seasoned foreign exchange research analyst and a published author on Yahoo Finance, Business Insider, Nasdaq, Entrepreneur.com, Investorplace, and other prominent platforms. With over two decades of experience in global financial markets, Olukoya is well-recognized in the industry.

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Government

Soludo Reportedly Fires Commissioner Over Poor Performance

Published

21 hours ago

September 17, 2024

Ugwoke Ogbodo

Governor of Anambra State, Prof Chukwuma Soludo, has reportedly sacked the state Commissioner for Information, Paul Nwosu.

Sources close to the embattled commissioner revealed that Nwosu was relieved of his duties over alleged poor performance.

Another source claimed that the commissioner resigned and was not sacked.

Feelers from the Ministry of Information in the state have it that the commissioner have already dusted his table and moved on.

“As I speak to you, Mr Paul Nwosu has packed his bag, and we’re just waiting for the news to be announced by the Press Secretary to the Governor, Mr Christian Aburime,” a source in the ministry confided in Investors King on Tuesday.

However, the governor’s Press Secretary, Christian Aburime, in a mobile phone conversation said that he is not aware of Nwosu’s sack but promised to get back to the media if anything like that happens.

As at the time of filing this report, it was not yet clear if the commissioner would be redeployed to another ministry.

Meanwhile, feelers have it that Dr. Law Mefor, a veteran communications strategist and a notable All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) member, has been lined up as a replacement.

Government

Edo Governorship: Anger, Worry as APC, PDP Candidates Shun Debate

Published

24 hours ago

September 17, 2024

Ugwoke Ogbodo

There is raging worry among major political stakeholders in Edo State over the refusal of the candidates of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Dr. Ighodalo Asue, and his All Progressives Congress (APC) counterpart, Senator Monday Okpebholo to honour debate organised in the state recently ahead of the Saturday’s governorship election.

Asue and Okpebholo failed to show up at a governorship debate organised by the Edo State Council of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) in conjunction with the Nigeria Elections Debate Group (NEDG) and the Broadcasting Organisation of Nigeria (BON) for the party flag bearers to tell the people of the state their plans if elected to govern the South-South state.

Investors King gathered that only the Labour Party (LP) candidate, Olumide Akpata, his Peoples Redemption Party (PRP) candidate, Patience Ndidi-Key and the Action Democratic Congress (ADC) Derek Izedonmwen were present at the debate.

Speaking at the debate event, Akpata condemned in strong terms the absence of the other candidates, describing the failure of the APC and PDP candidates to honour the invitation to debate as an outright disregard not only to the NUJ and BON but Edo people.

Urging residents to call out the candidates and use their votes to do justice to them at the poll, Akpata, who claimed the two candidates hoped on violence and manipulations to win the governorship election and that is why they did not show up, also charged media organisations and executives to condemn the action by the two candidates in their editorials, writing, among others.

He wondered why a candidate should intend to govern a state without coming to tell the people what he has for them, saying, “Asue Ighodalo comes from the private sector as I do, but if I may ask, as chairman of the board of several companies, did he employ any intending employee without an interview? This is simple logic.”

Also frowning at the refusal of the candidates to show up for the debate, Olugbenga Edema Campaign Organisation of the NNPP in the forthcoming off-cycle governorship election in Ondo State, Olugbenga Edema, berated Asue and Okpebholo.

While describing the absence of PDP and APC candidates from the debate as an affront and disrespect to the electorate, Edema maintained that the action of the duo denies the people, particularly the electorate, their fundamental right to evaluate the policies and visions of those seeking to govern them.

In a statement signed and issued by the spokesperson of the campaign organisation, Oluwatosin Ayeni, it was emphasised that the refusal of the candidate to participate in the debate was a lack of respect for the voters, who are entitled to assess those seeking public office.

While urging the people of Edo State to take a stand, Edema called for the rejection of the two parties at the poll on Saturday, adding that such impunity on the electorate by the two political parties would not be tolerated in Ondo State.

Similarly, the Nigerian Elections Debate Group (NEDG) condemned the development and called on Nigerians to insist that those aspiring to govern them must be made accountable to them.

The Executive Secretary of NEDG, Eddie Emessiri said their non-appearance was unwarranted because ample time was giving to all candidates.

Government

Stakeholders Lead Campaigns for More Involvement of Women in Nigerian Politics

Published

24 hours ago

September 17, 2024

Ugwoke Ogbodo

Concerned stakeholders across the globe have commenced advocacies for improved participation and involvement of women in politics in Nigeria.

The stakeholders including UN women, National Institute for Legislative and Democratic Studies and some female politicians in Ebonyi State argued that Nigeria tends to grow better when a sizeable number of females are included in governance.

As part of measures to achieving this aim, the organizations organised a one-day advocacy and sensitization workshop in Ebonyi North East State Constituency with the theme: “Advance Women’s Political Participation and Representation.”

At the event held in Abakaliki, Ebonyi State capital on Tuesday, the Coordinator of UN Women, Prof. Arthur Ikeme lamented that despite the gender equality campaigns, there are still low participation of women in politics and this motivated them to carry out sensitization visits to the South East geopolitical zone and Ebonyi State was chosen as the first point of call.

Ikeme commended the lawmaker, Chinyere Nwogbaga for her ingenuity and thanked the State Governor, Francis Nwifuru for putting women in positions of authority in his administration.

Nwogbaga who facilitated the programme recounted the hurdles she faced while seeking political position adding that women are being marginalised despite their efficiency and dedication to duties.

Nwogbaga who is the Chairman, House Committee on Women Affairs, is representing Ebonyi North East Constituency in the Ebonyi State House of Assembly.

She explained that she organised the programme through the sponsorship of the UN Women to advocate and intensify the involvement of women in politics noting that women have proven to be better in handling positions of authority if given the chance.

Rendering account of her stewardship, Nwogbaga said she has co-sponsored several key bills into law, installed street lights in each of the seven wards in her Constituency, secured health insurance for more than 100 elderly and vulnerable individuals, drilled hand pump boreholes to provide portable water, established a foundation to offer free services to the needy, distributed bag of fertilizers to rural farmers to boost food availability, awarded scholarships to indigent students as well as payment of WAEC fees.

The lawmaker commended the state governor for his giant stride in putting women in positions of authority like the State Deputy Governor, the Secretary to the State Government, Clerk of the State Assembly and members in the State Executive Council and eulogized the wife of the state governor, Mary Maudline Nwifuru for her BERWO programme which has given women great sense of belonging.

In her remarks, the chairman of the Industrial Arbitration Panel in South East, Tonia Adol Awam called for the enhancement and strict implementation of the violence against persons Law (VAPP) to allow more women participation in politics.