Power supply across the country would likely remain subdued as the maintenance action embarked upon by Nigeria Gas Company (NGC), early this week appears inconclusive.
A nationwide load shading had engulfed the electricity sector as the company, on Monday, began 3-day maintenance on a linking gas pipeline supplying gas to electricity Generation companies (GENCOs).
Africa’s biggest power thermal station, Egbin Power, was forced to shut operations following issues around gas supply to the station.
The power station was shut down by the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), to fix a leaking gas pipeline.
In a statement on its official X handle, TCN said that the shutdown was part of efforts to fix a leaking gas pipeline. It said the shutdown of the station would reduce power generation by 676MW of bulk power generated into the nation’s grid for 72 hours.
A statement from the TCN said, “This is to notify the public that as of 11:13 hours on 18 December 2023, the Egbin Power generating station was shut down to allow the Nigeria Gas Company (NGC) to maintain a linking gas pipeline supplying gas.
“The station will be shut down three days from today (Monday). This means a reduction of 676MW of bulk power generated into the nation’s grid for three days and consequently the quantum of bulk power available to be delivered to distribution companies’ load centres”.
According to Vanguard, as at last night, the power station could not re-open operation as the maintenance was not concluded.
Also contrary to the initial 3-day schedule which expired yesterday, the officials said they are not aware when the maintenance would be concluded for gas supply to resume.
Already, the Distribution Companies (DISCOs), have appealed to customers over the epileptic power supply across the country.
This came as generation dropped by 11.9 percent to 4,212.86 MW yesterday, against 4,715.2 MW recorded last week Wednesday.
A circular from one of the DisCos, Eko Electricity Distribution Company, EKEDC stated: “Kindly be informed that the reduction in power supply is due to the ongoing maintenance of Nigeria Gas Company’s, NGC, gas pipeline supplying the Egbin Power Station.
“The maintenance, which will last for three days, has resulted in reduced allocation from the grid causing massive load shedding across our network. We sincerely apologise for the inconvenience this has caused. Kindly bear with us”.
Egbin Power Plant is Nigeria’s largest thermal generating station in Lagos, with an installed capacity of 1,320 MW to the country’s national grid.
