Most regions of Nigeria are without electricity for the holiday season after Nigeria’s power generation fell 19.23% to 3,089.30 Megawatts yesterday.

The decrease is in comparison to the peak generation of 3,829.7MW recorded on Sunday, which translates to a loss of 735.30 MW, according to data from the Independent System Operator (ISO) portal, a semi-autonomous entity of the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN).

Low power distribution in the nation has frequently been attributed to the Transmission Company of Nigeria’s (TCN) inadequate grid management, according to the Association of Power Generation Companies (APGC).

“The GENCOs are supposed to start the turbines and stop at most 20 times a year, but in Nigeria, the GENCOs start and stop 365 days a year, and wear and tear is affecting the plants, which causes maintenance issues at a time when they should be optimal,” stated Mrs. Joy Ogaji, Executive Secretary of the APGC.

“GENCOs hired a specialist to look into these problems last year, and it was discovered that the ramp up and ramp down had an impact on the turbines. Siemens, for example, has instructed Geregu to halt the machines since the three turbines will be destroyed if the start and stop cycles continue. Calabar has also been informed by General Electric of a comparable problem and is awaiting repair.

Likewise, in a document that Vanguard was able to get, inefficiency as well as lack of capacity is seen as bane in the sector’s development.

“Nigeria’s overall generation capacity increased gradually, from approximately 5,500MW in late 2014 to more than 11,000MW installed capacity by end February 2021,” according to the report “Nigerian Power Sector – Gas and Power Generation Brief.”

However, depending on gas availability for gas-fired power plants, hydrological circumstances for hydro power plants, and power plant maintenance concerns, the installed capacity’s available capacity ranges from roughly 7,500MW to 4,200MW.However, transmission factors—which are outside the authority of the power generating companies—limit real power generation to a maximum of 5,500MW.

As of the end of February 2022, this supply is predicated on an on-grid demand of 28,880MW2.The Nigerian Electricity Supply Market’s commercial performance encapsulates the suboptimal performance of power production units. Only 64% of the cost of supplying the electricity may be covered by NESI Market revenues as of the end of December 2021.

This issue is made worse by the fact that gas providers and power plants are at the bottom of the value chain for electricity payments, and their unused capacity as well as the related gas infrastructure are still not taken into consideration.
The Nigerian power sector must be acknowledged as still undergoing a transition from a government-owned to a private sector-owned and operated enterprise; as such, it will continue to encounter structural, technical, commercial, and financial difficulties.

“If the Nigerian power sector is to reach its full potential, these issues, which continue to contribute to the underperformance of the Nigerian Electricity Supply Value Chain, must be successfully addressed.”

Effective solutions to the gas and power generation issues are needed, the report said, adding that doing so will inspire the Nigerian people and the international community and act as a catalyst for the successful completion of the Nigerian Power Sector Reforms.