• Egbin, Geregu, Omotosho among plants at zero generation
Nigeria’s electricity crisis deepened on Monday as 16 power plants recorded zero generation, triggering widespread blackouts, worsening the hardship faced by households and businesses across the country.
The affected plants include some of the country’s major generating stations, among them Egbin, Geregu NIPP, Olorunsogo NIPP, Jebba, Kainji, Okpai, Rivers IPP, Trans Afam Power, Afam III Fast, Alaoji NIPP, Delta, GPAL, Ihovbor, MEPP and TAOPEX.
Checks by Daily Sun on the dashboard of the Nigeria Independent System Operator (NISO) showed that total real-time electricity generation had fallen to 2,033.66MW as at 3pm yesterday, with only 13 generating plants reporting output.
The development represents a sharp decline from the 5,403MW available on September 24, amounting to a drop of more than 3,300MW, or about 62 per cent, in less than two weeks.
The collapse in generation has compounded the already difficult power situation confronting consumers, particularly in Lagos and other major urban centres.
In Lagos, several communities and businesses under the Ikeja Electric franchise area were without electricity as at 5pm yesterday, with consumers uncertain about when supply would be restored.
Some consumers who spoke with Daily Sun expressed frustration over the prolonged outage, saying the development had significantly increased their operating costs.
An operator of a pure water factory in Ogba, Mr Moshood Adekunle, said the prolonged blackout has forced his business to depend heavily on diesel-powered generators.
He said the high cost of diesel was putting additional pressure on the business at a time when operating expenses were already rising.
In Iyana-Iba, residents also lamented the prolonged outage.
A resident, Mr Jude Ezeobi, said his neighbourhood had been without electricity for more than two days, describing the situation as a major setback for households and small businesses.
The latest deterioration in supply comes against the backdrop of recent assurances by the Minister of Power, Mr Joseph Tegbe, that Nigerians were beginning to experience noticeable improvements in electricity supply.
Speaking at the commissioning of the 3MW solar hybrid power project at Yakubu Gowon University, formerly the University of Abuja, Tegbe said he had been receiving positive feedback from electricity consumers following improvements in supply in some parts of the country.
According to him, some communities that had previously gone for months without electricity were now receiving as much as 18 hours of supply daily.
“Places that didn’t have light at all for three months are now having 18 hours light. Some areas called me to say, look, I should slow down, that everything in their freezer is freezing. That is what freezer is meant to do. Let it freeze the food that needs to be frozen,” he said.
Tegbe recalled that he had promised during his Senate screening that Nigerians would begin to see noticeable improvements in electricity supply within three to six months.
COURTESY: thesun.ng
