Nigeria’s power grid collapses 2018: facts and figures

Nigeria’s electricity grid collapsed twice in the last two months, once in June and another in July caused by infrastructure deficit, data obtained from the Federal Ministry of Power, Works and Housing show.

Nigeria’s total power on the grid dropped from a high of 3,659.5 megawatts on June 7 to as low as 41.4MW on June 8. When this happened, the Transmission Company of Nigeria responded.

“The Transmission Company of Nigeria hereby state that as a result of gas pipeline rupture on the 15th of June, 2018, as well as technical issues at the Shell gas wells on the 16th of June, there has been a sharp drop in generation into the grid by a total of 1,087.6MW, resulting in load-shedding nationwide, necessary to maintain stability of the grid” Ndidi Mbah, general manager, public affairs, Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) explained in an earlier email response. This is not the first power grid collapse in 2018.

On July 08, another collapse of the grid occurred as the system dropped from a high of 4,089.1MW on July 7 to a low of 92.3MW the next day. So far, no grid collapse has been recorded in August 2018. Nigeria’s power generation figures hovered between a low of 3,000MW and a high of 4,800MW in the first eight days of the month.

Looking back, two days into 2018, Nigeria’s power transmission grid recorded a first major collapse, January 02 night due to a fire incident on a gas supply pipeline leading to widespread blackout across the country, BusinessDay had reported.

“Regrettably, after a sustained period of increasing production and distribution of power since September 2017 to date, the Nigerian Gas Processing and Transportation Company Ltd (NGPTC) has reported a fire incident on its Escravos Lagos Pipeline System near Okada, Edo State on Tuesday, 2nd January, 2018,” said a statement from the ministry of Power, Works and Housing.

As a result of the incident, a shutdown of the pipeline supplying gas to Egbin 1,320MW; Olorunsogo NIPP 676MW, Olorunsogo 338MW, Omotosho NIPP 450MW, Omotosho 338 MW and Paras 60MW power stations were effected.

The sudden loss of generation due to interruption in gas supply from these stations caused the national transmission grid to trip off around 20:20 on 2nd January 2018. The national transmission grid is owned and operated by the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN).

“Inconsistent electricity provision raises the production costs borne by businesses. The entrepreneur is hurt by poor and underdeveloped transport systems, and wants the government to fix these problems to enable businesses have a breath of fresh air” Majiri Otobo, founder and CEO of Kuicare Limited, said.

Nigeria generates 74 percent of its power from thermal power stations that require gas for fuel. The gas is produced by oil and gas companies overseen by the Ministry of Petroleum Resources. The gas is delivered to the power stations through pipelines owned and operated by Nigerian Gas Processing and Transportation Company Ltd (NGPTC), a subsidiary of Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC).

STEPHEN ONYEKWELU