WHY THE EPILEPTIC POWER SUPPLY? (Part 2): The Generation Sector

As have been stated in the part one of this issue, the electricity sector in Nigeria was divided up into 3 sectors for privatization; Generation, Transmission and Distribution sectors. We now take the various sectors separately to know what has happened in each of the sectors.

THE GENERATION SECTOR:

During the days of PHCN, the generation of electricity was done through power plants, owned by PHCN, where the electricity circulated to us emanates from. After the unbundling and the subsequent privatization, these generation stations were then sold to private companies.

The table below shows the power stations in Nigeria, their new names, the plant type and the capacity of electricity they were built to generate.

s/n	Power Station	New Name After Privatization	Plant Type	Electricity Generation Capacity
1	Kanji Hydro Power Station	Kanji/ Jebba Hydro Electric Plc (1and 2 was merged and sold)	Hydro (Uses Water)	1,330 MW
2	Jebba Dam Hydro Station
3	Shiroro Dam Hydro Power Station	Shiroro Hydro Electric Plc.	Hydro (Uses Water)	600 MW
4	Egbin Steam Plant	Egbin Power Plc.	Thermal (Uses Gas)	1,320 MW
5	Sapele Steam Plant	Sapele Power Plc. (5and 6 was merged and sold)	Thermal (Uses Gas)	1,020 MW
6	Sapele Gas Turbine
7	Afam Gas Turbine	Afam Power Plc.	Thermal (Uses Gas)	987 MW
8	Delta Gas Turbine	Ughelli Power Plc.	Thermal (Uses Gas)	942 MW

 Source: NERC

From the table above, we can sees that while 4 of the generation companies make use of Gas Thermal Plants, only 2 companies make use of water (Hydro Plants). The total amount of electricity that is supposed to be generated through Gas Thermal Plants in Nigeria is about 4,269 megawatts while the Hydro Plants were meant to generate about 1,930 megawatts. But for one reason or the other, the plants are not generating up to the required capacity.

Apart from the above major power stations, there also about 10 smaller independent power stations located in various states that helps supplement the electricity generated by the major power stations.

From all that has been discussed above, we see that the major part of electricity generated in Nigeria is done with Gas Thermal Plants. These thermal plants are more consistent than the Hydro plants that are dependent on the changes in the water level during the rainy and dry seasons.

 In such a case, what then do you think will happen to electricity supply in a situation where there is a reduction in the supply of Gas in the country? It is clear that some of the pipelines blown up recently by Militants are ones carrying gas to various power stations thus causing shortage of gas to power stations.

With shortage in the supply of gas to the various power stations, obviously, there will be shortage in the amount of electricity generated. Now are you beginning to see reasons for your epileptic power supply?…

We shall discuss the TRANSMISSION SECTOR in a subsequent post.