By Clara Nwachukwu
LAGOS — No fewer than 38
electricity generating turbines
are grounded in various power
plants in the country, Vanguard
investigations can reveal.
These technically faulty gas
turbines, as a result, are
unable to generate their
required power output, thus
compounding Nigeria’s already
poor electricity supply
situation.
Excuses and more excuses
For a while now, Nigerians
have been given all manner of
excuses for the recent drop in
electricity supply despite
assurances of improvement,
but investigations have shown
that it will take even a while
longer before the country can
experience some reprieve. This
is because virtually all the
generation plants are bugged
down with one technical
problem or the other.
The reality is such that even if
the Federal Government fulfils
its pledge to revamp these
faulty plants, Nigerians will still
not have enough power to
meet their industrial and
domestic energy needs.
This is because not only are
the plants allegedly being
starved of gas notably from its
major suppliers, the
international oil companies,
IOCs, the transmission and
distribution networks are still
too weak to carry and supply
even the little that is generated.
For instance Lagos, Nigeria’s
commercial nerve centre,
which is estimated to require
between 10,000 and 12,000
mega watts, MWs, is only able
to get a paltry 928MWs, out of
the 3,714MWs generated,
while Abuja receives a mere
44.2MW, as shown in the data
below.
Daily Report
(16-12-12)
Peak demand forecast
10200MW at 21:00 Hrs:
Actual generation capability
4370MW
at
21:45Hrs
Peak generation 3714.8MW at
21:45 Hrs: Lowest
generation 3118MW at 15:00
Hrs
Energy generated
83,411.40MWH
Energy sent out
81,790.05MWH;
Peak generation to date
4321.3MW Max.
energy generation capability to
date
96,768.53MWH;
Max power despatched to
Lagos 928.00MW @ 09:00Hrs;
Max. power despatched to
Abuja
44.20MW @ 22.00Hrs.
The effect of these supply
inadequacies is that Nigeria
has become a dumping
ground for all manner of sub-
standard generating sets, apart
from being one of the highest
importers of generating sets in
the world.
NNPC promises improved gas
supply
The Nigerian National
Petroleum Corporation, NNPC,
the senior partner in the joint
venture, JV, oil and gas
operation, promised that the
power supply situation would
improve as system overhaul
on the Escravos Lagos Gas
Pipeline, would have been
completed last weekend and
gas supply restored to Egbin
power plants
Executive Director, Gas and
Power, NNPC, Dr. David Ige, in
a telephone conversation with
Vanguard, revealed: “Chevron
will soon be ramping up
production. The Escravos
Lagos Pipeline has been
undergoing routine
maintenance in the last three
weeks. It will take another
three to four days to ramp up
production.”
He noted that with Chevron
being the major gas supplier, it
was expected that “there will
be some rationing. But by the
weekend, the situation would
have significantly improved.”
The NNPC, through its
subsidiary, Nigerian Gas
Company, NGC, operates the
following gas supply systems
in the country:
1. The Aladja Gas Pipeline
System which supplies the
Delta Steel Company, Aladja.
2. The Oben-Ajaokuta-Geregu
Gas Pipeline System, which will
form the back-bone of the
proposed Northern Pipeline
System, supplies Gas to
Ajaokuta Steel Company,
Dangote’s Obajana Cement
Company and PHCN Geregu
Power Plant.
3. The Sapele Gas Supply
Systems which supplies gas to
PHCN Power Station at
Ogorode, Sapele.
4. The Imo River-Aba System
for gas supply to the
International Glass Industry
Limited PZ, Aba Textile Mills
and Aba Equitable Industry.
5. The Obigbo North-Afam
system caters for PHCN Power
Station at Afam.
6. The Alakiri to Onne Gas
pipeline system supplies gas to
the National Fertiliser Company
(NAFCON) now Notore
Chemicals for fertilizer
production;
7. The Alakiri-Obigbo North -
lkot Abasi system for gas
supply to the former
Aluminium Smelting Company
of Nigeria (ALSCON) plant now
Rusal Industries in Ikot Abasi.
8. The Escravos-Lagos Pipeline
(ELP) supplies gas to NEPA’s
Egbin Power Plant near Lagos.
Subsequent spur lines from
the ELP supply the West
African Portland Cement
(WAPCO) Plants at Shagamu
and Ewekoro, PZ Industries at
Ikorodu, City Gate in lkeja
Lagos, PHCN Delta IV at Ughelli,
and Warri Refining and
Petrochemical Company at
Warri.
9. Ibafo-Ikeja Gas Supply
Pipeline System supplies gas to
Ikeja City Gate from where
Gaslink distributes to the Lagos
Industrial Area (LIA).
10. Ikeja-Ilupeju-Apapa Gas
Pipeline System currently
operated by Gaslink for Gas
Supplies to Greater Lagos
Industrial Area.
11. Ajaokuta-Geregu Gas
Pipeline System which supplies
gas to the Geregu PHCN Power
Plant.
12. Ajaokuta-Obajana Gas
Pipeline System which supplies
gas to Dangote’s Obajana
Cement Plant (OCP).
“All these facilities comprise
over 1,250 kilometres of
pipelines ranging from 4” to
36″ in diameter with an over all
design capacity of more than
2.5 billion standard cubic feet
of gas per day (bscf/d), 16
compressor stations and 18
metering stations. The facilities
represent a current asset base
of more than N21 billion,” NGC
explained on its website.
Some of the major gas
suppliers, Shell and Chevron
when contacted could not
respond appropriately. A
spokesman for Shell, Mr. Tony
Okonedo, when asked
specifically about the situation
in Afam VI, operated by Shell,
he merely said, “Nothing was
amiss.”
General Manager, Government
Policy and Public Affairs,
Chevron, Mr. Deji Haastrup,
also did not respond to
Vanguard enquiries after five
days of sending detailed
enquiries on his request.
Poor electricity supply situation
has turned almost every
Nigerian into a self styled
generator with about N17.9
billion spent annually on
imported generators to make
up for electricity shortfall from
the power suppliers.
Electricity targets
Ironically, under the Power
Sector Roadmap, launched by
President Goodluck Jonathan
in August 2010, Nigeria’s
generation capacity should
have peaked at 40,000MW by
Year 2020, and above 7,000MW
by April of 2011.
More than two years into the
implementation of the
roadmap, none of the set
targets, in terms of generation,
transmission, distribution, has
been met, including the
reform timeline that should
have ended in the privatisation
of the electricity sector.
On generation, government
planned to increase capacity by
about 52 per cent from
4,612MW currently to 7,033MW
by April 2011, and increase
capacity further to 14,218MW
by December 2013. About a
year on, the country is
nowhere near generating half
of the set target.
Weak transmission and
distribution networks
It is estimated that about 35
per cent of generation is lost
to technical faults on account
of weak networks. As shown in
the data below, most of the
lines are either weak or
unavailable for a number of
reasons, and for some of them
have remained in the current
state for years:
UNAVAILABLE BREAKERS/
ISOLATORS
LAGOS REGION:
1) Papalanto/Otta 132kV line
breaker – Not available –
jumpered.
2) Akangba T.S. 132kV Bus
Coupler CB – Serious Air
leakage since 1994.
3)Akangba T/S 132kV Itire line
1 isolator: Faulty.
4)Egbin T/S : Unit ST4 tie CB
52-14:out on CB failure relay.
5) Egbin T/S: Unit ST6 tie CB
52-20: Out on CB failure relay.
6)Egbin T/S: Unit ST6 south
bus CB 50-21: Out on CB
failure relay.
BENIN REGION
1) Benin 330kV bus coupler 1
breaker – CB not available due
to CTs explosion.
2)Sapele/Benin 330kV line 2
(cct S4B) bus 2 isolator Q21at
Sapele end: Faulty.
3)Aladja T/S G1W/S4W CB at
Aladja – locked out in open
position and bypassed.
P-H REGION
1)132kV Owerri/Alaoji lines I &
II tie breaker – faulty and
bypassed – Oct. 2009
2)132kV Owerri Ahoada line I
breaker – faulty and bypassed
– Jan. 2009
UNAVAILABLE TRANSFORMERS
BAUCHI REGION
Biu TS: 30/40MVA 132/33kV T2:
Out on REF. A replacement
is on plinth awaiting funds for
installation.
BENIN REGION
Ajaokuta T/S 224T3 162MVA
330/132/33kV transformer –
awaiting 1No. Secondary
lightning arrester.
Effurun T/S 30MVA 132/33KV
T2A: Out on differential, REF &
SBEF.
OSOGBO REGION
Ayede T/S 150MVA
330/132/33kV transformer T1B
– Replacement on plinth and
installation in progress.
LAGOS REGION:
Apapa Road T/S 45MVA
132/33kV TR1 – Out on
differential.
UNAVAILABLE
SYNCHROSCOPES:
Benin, Kaduna, Osogbo,
Onitsha, Ikeja West, Alaoji,
Ayede, Akangba & Aja.
Lagos region
Ikeja West/Omotosho line
(M5W) and Egbin line 3 (M6W)
– 21 spans.
Ikeja West/Olorunsogo line
(cct. R1W) – 80 spans.
330kV Ikeja West/Osogbo line.
– 95 spans.
Ikeja West/Alimosho/Ogba
132kV lines 1 & 2 – 15 spans.
Ikeja West/Akangba 330kV line
2. – 1 span.
Ikeja West 132kV Ilupeju lines 1
& 2. – 8 spans.
Akangba/Itire 132kV lines 1 &
2. – 1 span.
Ikeja West/Agbara 132kV lines
1 & 2. – 61 spans.
Ikeja West/Otta 132kV lines 1 &
2. – 17 spans.
Ogba/Otta 132kV line. – 17
spans.
UNAVAILABLE TRANSMISSION
LINES:
P-H REGION
Afam/Alaoji 132kV line
1:Vandalized.
Omoku -P/Harcourt main
132kV line, collapsed tower
Lagos region:
132kV Akangba/Itire line 1-
Faulty line isolator at Aka

No be news again, we know already!!!

Emusan: No be news again, we know already!!!

But some people recently said that electricity don dey yanfu-yanfu for Naija, that everybody is now having power like never before!