Repair work on vandalised transmission lines to cut 300mw supply
Nigeria’s poor electricity generation may further worsen as the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) has announced it is shutting down 300 megawatts Agip Okpai power plant in Delta state for repairs on a vandalised 55 kilometre transmission line.
Following the monthly meeting held in Kano between Babatunde Fashola, minster of Power, Works and Housing and electricity operators, it was agreed that the repairs necessitated the shut-in of power generation in the plant for two weeks.
Power generation as at yesterday stood at 2,374megawatts and it is largely supplied by three hydro power plants – Kainji, Jebba and Shiroro. The operators of these plants agreed at the meeting to increase their productivity to make up for the shortfall in power generation.
Babatunde Fashola, Minister of Power, Works and Housing, said the government is determined to establish new power stations in areas close to the energy sources all over the country.
Fashola maintained that creating more power plants would enable the Federal Government to use coal, hydro-power plants and solar energy to complement what was lost to the activities of pipelines vandals.
“The Federal Government is not confined to one section of the country in sourcing for power, with the effective introduction of a three phase roadmap Nigerians would be at an ample liberty to enjoy uninterrupted power supply.”
At a public lecture in Lagos in May, the minister unveiled the Federal Government’s road map to sustainable power which includes providing incremental power, refurbishing assets and locating plants close to power sources and ensuring uninterrupted power by diversifying the country’s power sources.
Fashola stated that the activities of pipeline vandals have robbed major power plants gas needed to operate them hence they have been shut, stressing that the situation has compelled the government to look into building plants only close to power sources.
He clarified that the ministry of power works and housing, was not saddled with the task of providing or distributing power rather it was saddled with the business of regulating how the service providers were operating to serve people asserting that with active collaboration with the National Electricity Regulatory Council the objective could be achieved.