Power supply to improve in 72 hours — Minister

The Minister of Power, Joseph Tegbe, has said electricity supply will begin to improve within 48 to 72 hours as the Federal Government works to address generation and transmission constraints responsible for recent outages in parts of the country.

Tegbe attributed the worsening electricity situation to planned maintenance at Egbin Power Station, Nigeria’s “largest” thermal power generating station in Lagos, which supplies about 16% of the total electricity on the national grid.

The minister disclosed this in a statement titled ‘Update on Power Situation’, posted on his Facebook page on Friday.

“I am aware of the strain that the current outages have placed on households and businesses in four affected states, including Lagos and the Federal Capital Territory.

“Planned maintenance at Egbin Power Station and constraints in gas supply to some thermal power stations have reduced the amount of electricity available on the national grid. Grid operators have, therefore, implemented load shedding in some areas to manage the shortfall,” he said.

Tegbe added that the sabotage of critical transmission lines had restricted the use of alternative routes to supply electricity to some locations, particularly Lagos.

He said his ministry was working with relevant operators to restore affected generating units in phases, improve gas supply and accelerate repairs to damaged infrastructure.

“My team and I are working to return the affected generating units to service in phases, with the first units coming back online within the next 48 to 72 hours.

“We are also working with operators to improve gas supply and accelerate repairs to the damaged infrastructure,” he added.

The minister’s assurance comes amid growing complaints from electricity consumers in Lagos and Ogun states over prolonged blackouts, which residents say have made the prevailing hot weather increasingly unbearable.

Meanwhile, the power crisis has triggered a disagreement between the Transmission Company of Nigeria and Ikeja Electric over the causes of recent supply interruptions.

TCN, in a statement on Friday, faulted Ikeja Electric’s attribution of outages recorded on November 3 and 4 to grid instability, insisting that inadequate gas supply to thermal power stations and reduced hydroelectric generation were responsible for the decline in electricity available for distribution.

The transmission company described Ikeja Electric’s explanation as inaccurate and misleading, arguing that the distribution company had wrongly attributed generation-related shortfalls to the transmission network.

“TCN can only transmit the energy made available to it and cannot transmit energy that is not generated,” the company said.

It also maintained that the Nigerian Independent System Operator had not identified any failure of its transmission network as the cause of the outages.

TCN attributed 68 per cent of interruptions recorded on feeders supplying Ikeja Electric to frequency-control load shedding caused by low generation, while it blamed 26 per cent on Ikeja Electric’s alleged failure to comply with load allocations, as well as faults and maintenance on its distribution network.

The remaining six per cent, according to TCN, resulted from its planned maintenance, switching operations or line limitations.

The disagreement came after Ikeja Electric apologised to customers on some Band A feeders for failing to meet the minimum daily electricity supply requirement of 20 hours on November 3 and 4.

In an earlier statement on Thursday, Tegbe had also attributed the electricity disruptions to maintenance and operational challenges across the power sector, gas shortages at thermal power stations and reduced output from hydropower plants.

He said the Federal Government was working with TCN, NISO and electricity distribution companies to address the constraints and restore normal supply.(Punch)