Declare state of emergency in power sector, consumers tell Tinubu
Electricity consumers have berated the state of electricity generation and supply in the country.
They called on President Bola Tinubu to declare a state of emergency in the power sector.
While reacting to the continuous drop in power generation and supply in-country, President, Electricity Consumers Association of Nigeria, Chijioke James, said on Tuesday that consumers were not happy with the downward trend in the power sector.
James said, “Electricity consumers are not happy that generation and distribution instead of increasing is dropping.
“I believe that the administration of President Tinubu should take this sector seriously and genuinely declare an emergency in the power sector, giving delivery timelines and be ready to place appropriate sanctions for service providers who do not work towards the actualisation of agreed targets.”
Findings by The PUNCH showed that the country’s 26 power generating plants had not been able to generate up to 5000megawatts as it used to, as peak generation had fallen below 4000MW.
Checks by on the Systems Operator’s power generation data on Monday, revealed that peak generation was 3,803.60 MW. Experts said, at least 30, 000MW was required for the country to reach sufficiency.
This meant the current generation was a far cry from what Nigeria’s economy required for growth.
A look at a new report by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission for first quarter of the year, revealed that 4,605MW was generated in the quarter under review as against 4,503MW achieved in 2022/Q4- still below 5000MW, and way below the recommended 30, 000MW.
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Twenty-six generation stations which injected energy to the national grid in the quarter under review included 18 gas, four hydro, two steam, and two gas/steam-powered plants.
“The president needs to declare a state of emergency in the sector to enable him to renew the hopes of all in a prosperous and productive Nigeria,” he added.
German-based Siemens had on Monday, announced the delay in delivery of a project which was supposed to add 11, 000MW to the grid by 2030. The project was earlier slated to be delivered this year.
Head of business development and government relations at Siemens Energy, Oladayo Orolu, said the company expected to complete the project by 2030, due to delays caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
The three-phase project was set back by delays in starting the first phase, he said.
“When we conceptualized this project in 2018, our plan was within two years we should be done with phase one, but then Covid happened,” disrupting supply chains, which meant getting raw materials took longer than before, Orolu said.
Reacting to the report of the power plants producing below national requirement, spokesperson for the Gencos, Joy Ogaji, simply said, “gas,” in a whatsApp response to The PUNCH.
The NERC said it continued in its dialogue with stakeholders in the power sector to ensure improvement in the quality and quantum of power delivered to consumers. It called for investments in the sector.
