₦airaland Forum

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‎The promise of Aba Power is straightforward: reliable electricity should help transform Aba into a stronger commercial and industrial hub. But that promise becomes difficult to fulfil when the power plant does not have a consistent supply of natural gas to run its turbines.
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‎Aba Power’s performance is directly tied to its gas supply. When gas is available, the plant can generate electricity. When gas supply is interrupted, power availability across Aba is inevitably affected. The growing frequency of gas-related interruptions therefore raises an important question: why is a gas supply challenge becoming a recurring feature of electricity supply in Aba?
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‎For residents and businesses, the issue is no longer an isolated incident. Gas supply problems appear to be becoming a monthly occurrence, with notices of gas-related maintenance or interruptions followed by reduced power availability or outright blackouts in parts of Aba.
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‎From “our gas supplier” to Heirs Energies

‎Interestingly, Aba Power previously referred to its gas provider simply as “our gas supplier” when informing customers about disruptions. Following the recent prolonged blackout in Aba, however, the company specifically identified the supplier as Heirs Energies.
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‎That change is significant because it gives customers a clearer understanding of where a major part of the problem lies. Aba Power cannot generate electricity without the gas required to operate its turbines. Consequently, the reliability of electricity supply in Aba is not solely a question of how well Aba Power operates its generating plant; it is also a question of how reliably its gas supplier can deliver the fuel needed by that plant.
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‎This creates a dependency that customers cannot ignore.
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‎The spare-parts question
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‎One of the most troubling aspects of the recent disruption was the explanation that components required for the gas facility had to be imported before the problem could be resolved.
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‎It is understandable that specialised equipment can fail and that some replacement components may need to be sourced internationally. But the episode raises a legitimate question: why were critical spare parts apparently not already available?
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‎If a particular component is essential to maintaining the continuous flow of gas to a power plant, one would expect the operator of the gas infrastructure to have appropriate contingency plans. That could include critical spare parts, alternative equipment, redundancy, preventive maintenance and emergency response arrangements.
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‎The cost of failing to prepare is ultimately borne not just by the gas company or the power company, but by the people and businesses of Aba who lose electricity when the generating plant cannot operate.
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‎Maintenance is necessary, but how often is too often?
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‎A new notice from Aba Power concerning gas maintenance by Heirs Energies has once again coincided with electricity disruption in Aba.
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‎There is nothing inherently wrong with maintenance. In fact, proper maintenance is essential for any gas infrastructure connected to a power-generating facility. Turbines, pipelines, compressors, valves and other gas-handling equipment require regular inspection and servicing.
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‎The real question is whether these recurring disruptions represent normal, properly planned maintenance or whether they indicate deeper reliability problems with the underlying gas infrastructure.
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‎If maintenance is planned, customers should reasonably expect it to be scheduled in a way that minimises disruption. If equipment repeatedly fails, the issue becomes more serious. At that point, the public deserves to know whether the infrastructure is ageing, whether investment in replacement and upgrades has been sufficient, and whether the system has adequate redundancy.
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‎Repeated monthly interruptions should not simply be accepted as the normal cost of doing business.
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‎Is this how gas-fired power systems operate elsewhere?
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‎This also raises another important question: is this level of disruption normal in countries where gas is widely used to generate electricity?
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‎Gas-fired power plants around the world do experience maintenance outages, equipment failures and disruptions in fuel supply. No energy infrastructure is immune from problems. However, mature electricity systems generally place considerable emphasis on redundancy, preventive maintenance, spare-parts management, system reliability and contingency planning precisely because the consequences of an unexpected shutdown can be substantial.
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‎A gas-fired power plant should not necessarily be expected to operate without interruption forever. But a power system serving a major commercial and industrial city should have mechanisms designed to prevent a problem in one part of the gas supply chain from repeatedly becoming a widespread blackout.
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‎That is the standard against which the Aba situation should be examined.
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‎Aba Power cannot solve the problem alone
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‎It is important not to place every electricity-supply problem at the feet of Aba Power.
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‎If the generating plant depends on natural gas from Heirs Energies, then Aba Power's ability to generate electricity is fundamentally constrained by the availability and reliability of that gas.
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‎Put simply:
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‎No gas → no generation → reduced power availability.
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‎This means Aba Power's operational performance is directly linked to the performance of its gas supplier. Even if Aba Power has the capacity, equipment and technical personnel to generate electricity at a higher level, that capacity cannot be fully utilised when the fuel required to operate the turbines is unavailable.
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‎This distinction matters because customers ultimately experience only the end result: darkness.
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‎The bigger issue is reliability
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‎The people of Aba need more than explanations after every major interruption. They need a power system that is predictable.
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‎Businesses cannot plan effectively around electricity that is available one day and interrupted the next because of recurring gas problems. Manufacturers, traders, hospitals, offices and households all make investments based on the assumption that essential infrastructure will be dependable.
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‎Aba is one of Nigeria's major commercial and industrial centres. Reliable electricity is therefore not a luxury. It is an economic necessity.
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‎If gas infrastructure serving Aba Power is experiencing repeated failures or maintenance requirements, then Heirs Energies and Aba Power should be asking whether the current arrangement is sufficiently resilient for the demands placed upon it.
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‎What should happen next?
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‎Rather than treating each interruption as an isolated event, there should be a broader examination of the recurring gas-supply problems.
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‎Customers deserve greater transparency about:
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‎- The nature and frequency of gas-supply interruptions.
‎- Whether the problems are caused by planned maintenance or unexpected equipment failures.
‎- The age and condition of critical gas infrastructure.
‎- Whether adequate spare parts are maintained locally or within reasonable emergency-replacement timelines.
‎- What investments are being made to improve reliability.
‎- Whether there are contingency arrangements when a major gas component fails.
‎- How long customers should reasonably expect these disruptions to continue.
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‎The objective should not be to blame one company automatically. The objective should be to identify the structural problem and fix it.
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‎Aba deserves better
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‎Aba Power has the potential to provide a major boost to the economy of Aba, but that potential can only be realised when the entire electricity-generation chain works reliably.
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‎Aba Power needs gas to generate electricity. If its gas supplier cannot consistently provide that gas, Aba Power's ability to perform at its optimal level will inevitably suffer.
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‎Therefore, the recurring gas interruptions should be treated as more than routine operational notices. They should prompt a serious conversation about the reliability, capacity, maintenance and resilience of the gas infrastructure supplying Aba Power.
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‎Maintenance is good. Equipment replacement is good. Internationally sourced spare parts may sometimes be unavoidable. But when the same fundamental problem repeatedly leaves a major city without electricity, the question should no longer be simply, “When will the gas supply return?”
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‎The more important question is:
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‎“Why does this keep happening, and what is being done to make sure it does not happen again?”
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‎Until that question is answered convincingly and the underlying reliability problems are addressed, Aba Power may continue to have the capacity to generate more electricity than it can actually deliver.
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‎And for the people of Aba, that means the promise of reliable power remains dependent on something they cannot control: the reliability of the gas flowing into the turbines.

nairalanda1:
This is very easy. Lack of a cost reflective tarrif is what is preventing the gas company from having the money to pay for the spare parts.

Debroslink:
. Oga park well joor

ppogba:
The lies and propaganda of Otti providing 29 hours a day is presently collapsing and coming to the fore.

Las las, una go dey alright.

Each time there is power outage due to shortage of gas, na the same people dey start the wailing.

Now , make una come wail outside.

jmoore:
https://www.facebook.com/100013785282908/posts/pfbid0LUd3AHiScPMfXCSyWuZVExeN83dKDbZzy322GCfwHsgLq3huwscoDeACK2y55LHil/

ppogba:
The lies and propaganda of Otti providing 29 hours a day is presently collapsing and coming to the fore.

Las las, una go dey alright.

Each time there is power outage due to shortage of gas, na the same people dey start the wailing.

Now , make una come wail outside.

nairalanda1:
Meanwhile your beloved tinubu is a strong lion when it comes to removing subsidy on fuel, but when it comes to repeating his epic feat in removing subsidy on fuel in the electricity sector, he suddenly is as quiet as a cat.

And the arguments that are there for fuel subsidy removal work well for electrcitiy subsidy removal

But i GUESS, tinubu doesn't care about good power supply, hey!?

Beforedbuilder:
All stories what Nigerians need is uninterrupted power supply. Aba power should buy or run their own independent gas plant. Enough of excuses.

Parachoko:
Nah you just love to dey wail

Asiwaju stop subsidizing the Forex Sector

Asiwaju stop subsidizing Fuel

From next year, Government go start to dey pay subsidy on Power

nairalanda1:
This is very easy. Lack of a cost reflective tarrif is what is preventing the gas company from having the money to pay for the spare parts.

Heirs is supplying Afam, and Geometric. Because most of the customers of these companies cannot pay a cost reflective tarrif due to government laws preventing the payment of such tarrifs by all except band A folk...and because the government is not paying the subsides needed to balance out the revenue from lack of cost reflective tarrif, the result is that these companies owe the gas company.

Throw in the fact that most components in the supply of electricity are imported. We do not control their price or the cost of maintenance. As a result it becomes difficult, when a company is not making enough money, to do replacements.

That is the problem, essentially.

Beautifulday:
Aba power is incompetent. Are they saying they don't know when their gas will finish?

ppogba:
The lies and propaganda of Otti providing 29 hours a day is presently collapsing and coming to the fore.

Las las, una go dey alright.

Each time there is power outage due to shortage of gas, na the same people dey start the wailing.

Now , make una come wail outside.

jmoore:
Keep quiet .

Beforedbuilder:
All stories what Nigerians need is uninterrupted power supply. Aba power should buy or run their own independent gas plant. Enough of excuses.

Like all other electricity distribution companies (DisCos) in Nigeria, Geometric Power's tariffs are explicitly set and approved by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC). The commission utilizes the Multi-Year Tariff Order (MYTO) and Service-Based Tariff (SBT) frameworks to dictate what customers can be charged based on macroeconomic parameters (such as inflation, exchange rates, and gas prices) and the hours of power supplied. Geometric Power cannot legally adjust its rates upward or downward without an official tariff order from NERC

Beforedbuilder:
All stories what Nigerians need is uninterrupted power supply. Aba power should buy or run their own independent gas plant. Enough of excuses.

christejames:
Keep allowing your ignorance and hate for good governance stunt your progress...



As bad as Aba power supply may be it's still far better than anywhere else you think you are getting your own supply from.


At least, they are better than the one that's supplying you that will always go off without telling you why and when it will be restored.

ppogba:
The lies and propaganda of Otti providing 29 hours a day is presently collapsing and coming to the fore.

Las las, una go dey alright.

Each time there is power outage due to shortage of gas, na the same people dey start the wailing.

Now , make una come wail outside.

nairalanda1:
y.

And as at now, the good city of Abia owes geometric 4.2 billion naira. In unpaid bills of consumers.

Nword22:
Keep kwayet there, it's only in Abia issues fake Nigerians got their bloodline.

Face your unworking state and leave us alone.

jmoore:
No be that your gas cylinder dem dey use.

Nice2023:
This country has anti progressive people runing it. During the time of fuel subsidy,it is the same mentality that jeopardized that agenda while other nations were subsidising expensive good such as fuel,food,medicines and even electricity but it got to Nigeria,it is either one problem today,another tomorrow and so on.

What a nation where u have to either pay hugely or bribe beyond measure.

No country can succeed by sabotage. I took my daughter to Gwagwwlada teaching hospital in Abuja to enquire about dental bracing,I got their,I was told the woman wasn't around,I waited a s after some minutes she can...

The same officer called me in to see her and after that,they told that it was 400k and that male officer asked me to call him in the evening and I wonder why and he said,he wanted to discuss something with me, I called as he said.

He started telling why I should do it in a private hospital where the cost was even higher than the teaching hospital and I wonder the kind country we are building for the next generation.
His only reason was that,they don't have materials enough for everyone and I told him,I would wait till u guys have the material and he said that can not be guaranteed.

Above is the number one reason why Nigeria needs reorientation.

It is too corrupt beyond reason