The Minister of Power, Engr. Abubakar D. Aliyu has blamed the current low power generation on gas cut to Generation Companies (GenCos) from the Oben gas processing plant in Edo state.
Power generation by the Generation Companies (GenCos) dipped at the weekend with the national grid recording 1,900 megawatts (MW) average generation on Saturday afternoon.
Ihovbor NIPP and Azura GenCos in Benin are among the power plants feeding gas from the Oben gas facility.
In a notice to its customers, the Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC) said its daily allocation dropped to 228MW from about 650MW it ought to get.
“This is to inform you that the prolonged disruption of power supply in your area is due to an equally significant reduction in the load allocation from the national grid.
“We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience and assure you that we are working hard to improve supply to your area,” AEDC stated.
But clarifying the immediate cause of the low power generation, the minister in a statement signed by his spokesman, Isa Sanusi, said “The current dip in electricity generation is as a result of the partial shutdown of the Oben gas plant to address the repair of critical gas processing equipment.
“The incident, unfortunately, occurred at a time when other power plants on other gas sources are undergoing planned maintenance and capacity testing.”
The minister also said Seplat Energy Plc has mobilised equipment, material and personnel to the site to expedite the restoration of normal gas supply to the affected power plants.
“We have been assured that the repair work will be concluded this weekend and normalcy will be restored. While pleading with electricity consumers with the current state of supply, we wish to assure the general public that efforts are being made for a sustained improvement of supply across the country,” the minister stated.
