Gas Supply Increase Raised Power Generation by 3,358MW – NNPC

The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation in its latest monthly operations report said the increase in gas supply to 789 million standard cubic feet, which was delivered to gas-fired power plants, led to the generation of 3,358 megawatts of electricity.

Also, power sector performance updates seen at the Federal Ministry of Power in Abuja on Monday showed that the industry lost N11.4bn between February 1 and 13, 2021.

In its latest monthly report, the national oil firm stated that it supplied 640mmscfd of gas to gas-fired power plants in January last year to generate 2,683MW, but increased the supply of gas in November to 789mmscfd to produce 3,358MW.

“A total of 789mmscfd was delivered to gas-fired power plants in the month of November 2020 to generate an average power of about 3,358MW compared with October 2020 when an average of 750mmscfd was supplied to generate 2,801MW,” the NNPC stated.

The oil firm further explained that out of the 1,332.82mmscfd of gas supplied to the domestic market in November 2020, about 788.64mmscfd of gas representing 59.17 per cent was supplied to gas-fired power plants.

It said the balance of 544.18mmscfd or 40.83 per cent was supplied to other industries across the country.

“Similarly, for the period of November 2019 to November 2020, an average of 1,214.27mmscfd of gas was supplied to the domestic market comprising an average of 711.42mmscfd or 58.59 per cent as gas supply to the power plants and 502.86mmscfd or 41.41 per cent as gas supply to industries,” the report stated.

This came as additional data obtained from the Federal Ministry of Power on Monday showed that the average quantum of energy that was sent out between February 1 and 13, 2021, was 4,568 megawatts-hour/hour.

It was also observed that a total of 1,826MWH/H could not be generated on the grid due to constraints such as gas shortage as well as distribution and transmission challenges.

These constraints stalled a total revenue of N11.4bn from accruing to the power sector in the 13-day period, as peak power generation during the period in February was 5,498MW.

Power generation in Nigeria hovers between 4,000MW and 5,000MW, as the major constraints in the sector continue to impede the smooth growth of the business despite being privatised since November 2013.