Electricity generation has dropped by 450 megawatts, the
Transmission Company of Nigeria has said.
The firm said the drop on Saturday was due to vandalism of
pipelines supplying gas to the Okpai Power Plant in Delta
State.
The plant, it said, was shut down as a result of the reported
vandalism, adding that the development would warrant power
rationing across the country for four days.
The firm said in a statement signed by its General Manager,
Public Affairs, Mrs. Seun Olagunju, that repair works on the
plant were expected to be completed within three days.
“Okpai Power Plant will expectedly resume generation on
Wednesday, November 27, 2013,” it said.
A senior official from the Ministry of Power told our
correspondent on Sunday that fluctuations in power generation
might persist for a while because the new power firms owners’
were still settling down to manage the sector.
The official, who did not want to be named, explained that
although the recent drop in generation was due to gas
pipeline vandalism, most of the investors had yet to fully
comprehend how the system works.
The official said, “We may continue to experience a drop in
power and this will lead to poor supply in some areas
because the investors are still in the process of knowing how
to efficiently run the business. This may take time, but in due
course, things will take shape.”
Despite the takeover of power firms by private investors since
November 1, 2013, the country has continued to experience
poor electricity supply.
Although the investors have explained that development in
the sector would take time, electricity consumers are expecting
a quick positive transformation in the power business.
Last week, residents in various states complained that power
supply across the country had remained poor. They described
this as a source of worry because they expected a steady
improvement of the situation with the entry of the private
investors.
The Presidential Task Force on Power put the power
generation at 3,600.90MW as of November 20, 2013.