By Chineme Okafor
Extant challenges associated with sustainable gas supply to
thermal electricity generating plants in Nigeria will again
lead to drop in the country's national power generation
capacity by 415 megawatts (MW).
The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) yesterday night
disclosed that available electricity for transmission by it
across Nigeria will drop by 415MW following the shutdown
of the Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Ltd
(SPDC) operated 240 metric million standard cubic feet per
day (mmscf/d) Okoloma gas plant which supplies gas
molecules to Afam power plant.
While Nigeria currently lives on a paltry 3500 to 4000MW of
power, the Afam VI power plant contributes a good
percentage of the countries power generation capacity but
instances of gas pipeline vandalism, insufficient gas supply to
power plants and transmission constraints have often
resulted in constant fluctuations in national power production.
TCN, in a statement, stated that the Okoloma gas plant
would be closed for maintenance, thus leading to the drop.
This also means that TCN will have just a little above
3000MW of power for transmission and subsequent
distribution.
It also said that a subsequent electricity load shedding across
the country would be experienced for 10 days, starting from
6am today (Sunday).
"The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) wishes to
inform the general public that due to unavoidable drop in the
quantity of power available for TCN to transmit to the
distribution companies, there will be nationwide load
shedding for 10 days, from 6am, Sunday, 20th July to
Wednesday, 30th July, 2014.
The expected reduction in power generation will result from
the shutdown of the 415MW Afam power plants, following
routine maintenance work at the Okoloma gas plant, which
supplies gas to Afam power plants," the statement said.
It further said: "It is however expected that the power plant
will commence generation on Thursday, July, 31st, 2014,
when gas supply from Okoloma gas plant would have
resumed. TCN regrets inconveniences to the federal
government and our highly esteemed customers nationwide."
In October 2008, the Afam power plant began generating
electricity, fed by natural gas from the Okoloma gas plant.
Gas from Okoloma also serves industrial and other users
within the eastern gas grid network. The gas plant was last
year shutdown for similar maintenance work.
It will also be recalled that new operators of the successor
generation and distribution companies of defunct Power
Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) have often complained
of poor electricity generation owing to low gas supply.
The federal government recently constituted a presidential
committee headed by the Chairman of the Presidential Task
Force on Power (PTFP), Beks Dagogo-Jack, to look into the
challenges of gas supply to power plants.
Sent from my BlackBerry wireless device from MTN
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