By Obas Esiedesa/Abuja
Two weeks ago, power generation fell below 2500 megawatts (MW) for the first time in three years due mainly to vandalism of two major pipelines supplying gas to eight power generation stations in the country, namely Egbin/AES Thermal Stations, Olorunsogo, Omotoso, Geregu NIPP, Afam IV and VI Thermal Power stations as well as River State Independent Power Plant.
With the disruption of gas supply through the lines, the Nigerian Gas Company (NGC) was unable to pump gas to Afam IV, Afam VI as well as the Independent Power Plant in Rivers State, resulting in the loss of 593MW. Also, the second vandalised gas pipeline from Escravos to Warri caused a further cutback of 1,005MW in power generation from Egbin/AES power generating station, Olorunsogo, Omotosho and Geregu NIPP power plants.
Following these incidents and the constant system collapses recorded in the transmission network, Minister of Power, Professor Chinedu Nebo, admitted that government was facing serious difficulty in its effort to fix the nation’s power sector.
According to him, the situation in the power sector is getting out of hand and he called for the support of Nigerians in checking vandalism of facilities being put in place by the government.
He said: “It is interesting to note that some of the causes of system collapses could be corrected by very simple work that could be done seemingly effortlessly. I will like to plead with the generality of our people to understand that we are facing very difficult times in the power sector. Some of these problems are man-made, some have accrued from years of under-funding and under-development of the sector.
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