Power generation drops by 759MW in 24 hours

Power generation fell by 759.1 megawatts in the 24 hours to Wednesday on the back of losses recorded by Egbin, Afam VI and other generation plants.

Electricity generation had on Tuesday risen to 4,368.5MW from 3,548.7MW on Monday. But it dropped to 3,629.4MW on Wednesday, industry data obtained by our correspondent showed.

Generation from Egbin, which is located in Lagos, was limited to 912MW on Wednesday, down from 1,085MW the previous day, due to gas constraints.

Shell’s Afam VI power plant in Rivers State, which generated 524MW on Tuesday, saw the level falling to zero on Wednesday. Its four units were said to be out due to defective gas compressors.

The Sapele power plant did not generate electricity on Wednesday, compared to the 40MW it produced the previous day.

Other plants whose generation fell included Omotosho, Olorunsogo, Geregu NIPP, Odukpani NIPP and the Ibom power plant.

Power generation in the country fell to a record low of 1,580.6MW last Wednesday, a development that threw many parts of the country into blackout for days on end.

The Federal Government had on Friday apologised to Nigerians for the poor power situation the country had been witnessing in the past few weeks.

The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, in a statement, blamed the situation on gas shortage, vandalism of critical infrastructure and sabotage.

The minister said the routine maintenance by the Nigeria Gas Company had affected the supply of gas to power stations, forcing down power supply from an all-time high of 5,074 MW to about 4,000MW.