Minister links power outage to technical, gas, water hurdles across 17 GenCos
A breakdown in the operation of Sapele, Afam, Olorunsogo, Omotosho, Ibom, Egbin, Alaoji and Ihovbor plants.
As power outages worsen across the country, this week, the Minister of Power, Engr. Sale Mamman, has said there are technical issues across 17 Generation Companies (GenCos), forcing a huge drop in the national grid.
According to a statement issued by his spokesman, Aaron Artimas on Thursday, said there is a breakdown in the operation of Sapele, Afam, Olorunsogo, Omotosho, Ibom, Egbin, Alaoji and Ihovbor plants.
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The Jebba hydropower plant was also shut down for annual maintenance.
Gas supply constraint has cut down power output from seven other plants which are Geregu, Sepele, Omotosho, Gbarain, Omoku, Paras and Alaoji plants.
Similarly, the Shiroro hydropower plant has water management problems, with low output.
“This unfortunate development has drastically affected power generation, thus effectively minimizing the national grid.
“In view of this, the Minister of Power, Engr. Sale Mamman regrets this unfortunate situation and offers his sincere apology to all affected Nigerians on the inconveniences the power shortages are causing.”
He assured that the ministry through the appropriate agencies is working to rectify the technical problems affecting the plants as well as resolving the gas issues to the others.
The minister was hopeful that the national grid will be restored to its previous historic distribution peak of about 5,600 megawatts (MW) of electricity achieved early this year, to help Nigerians battle the prevailing climatic condition while restoring full economic activities.
Meanwhile, Port Harcourt DisCo has reported isolated outage in its franchise area after a power transformer explosion at a transmission station in Rivers State.
Its spokesperson, Chioma Aninwe, in a statement said repairs are ongoing by the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), to restore supply.
The affected areas include Rumuokwuta, GRA, among others.