Power Stations Shutdown as Demand Drops

• Power Stations Shutdown as Demand Drops

Not less than seventeen power stations have shut down operations as they complain of low demand from distributing companies.

A report from the Nigeria Electricity System Operator showed seventeen out of the 27 power stations in the country were forced to shut down some of their operating units despite the blackout being experienced by customers across the country.

Power generation drops from 3,129.8 megawatts on Wednesday to 2,842.1MW on Thursday. That was slightly below 2,896.5MW generated on Tuesday as about 2,603.7MW could not be produced due to low demands.

The output from the three hydropower plants –Jebba, Shiroro and Kainji — in the country dropped 285MW, 400MW and 22MW to 148MW, 180MW and 198MW, respectively.

Jebba plant shut down three units, 2G2, 2G4 and 2G5, while 411G3 unit of Shiroro was shut down due to weak demand from Discos.

Egbin (100MW), the nation’s biggest power station; Olorunsogo I (114MW), Geregu I (220MW); Omotosho I (76MW); Azura-Edo IPP (309MW), Okpai IPP (196MW), Afam VI IPP (400MW) and Rivers IPP (50MW) were gas-fire power plants that suffered declines in generation.

Dr Joy Ogaji, the Executive Secretary, Association of Power Generation Companies, recent said the Gencos were losing money due to idle generation capacity at their stations.

She stated that “With a total available generation capacity of more than 7,500MW and maximum wheeling capacity of not more than 5,500MW, there will always be a recurring instance of about 2,000MW idle generation.

“Out of the meagre 5,500MW of transmission wheeling capacity, the Discos have not proven to be able to distribute more than 4,500MW continuously, leaving yet another 1,000MW of generation capacity unutilised.

“In total, due to the combined technical incapacitation of the Transmission Company of Nigeria and the Discos, the Gencos are unable to deploy a total of 3,000MW of capacity that would ensure sustainable and profitable operations.

“If one considers the fact that the Discos have in the recent past been operating around 3,500MW or below, this figure escalates to 4,000MW of idle capacity.”