According to industry figures, the aggregate generation capacity of Nigeria’s 26 power plants has decreased by 70%. According to the most recent statistics from the Nigeria Electricity Supply Industry, the capacity of the plants fell from 13,461MW to 4,022MW when they were last assessed in July 2021.
According to the statistics, the four hydro plants under the Power Purchase Agreement, such as the Kainji plant (hydro), which had an original 760MW capacity, had around 153MW capacity as of July last year, while Jebba, which had 576MW capacity, had 332MW.
Shiroro’s nominal capacity of 600MW has already been reduced to 248MW, while Mabon’s capacity of 40MW has yet to generate any electricity.
The gas plants under the Power Plant Agreement such as Egbin, went from 1100MW to 606MW, Sapele from 1020MW to 46MW, Delta from 900MW to 281MW, AfamIV-V production capacity went from 776MW to 67MW, and Geregu capacity dropped from 414MW to 277MW.
Azura’s capacity also went from 450MW to 421MW, Agip dropped from 465MW to 29MW, Shell from 650MW to 287MW, Olorunsogo from 304MW to 195MW, and Omotosho also dropped from 304MW to 254MMW.
The last batch of eight gas plants under the National Integrated Power Project such as Geregu, Sapele Alaoji, Olorunsogo, Omotosho, Ihovbor, Calabar, and Gbarain nameplate capacities formerly at 434MW, 450MW, 960MW, 675MW, 500MW, 450MW, 563MW, and 225MW respectively, witnessed a crash in capacities to 77MW, 33MW, 58MW, 23MW, 43MW, 17MW, and 236MW respectively.
The government-owned gas plants still under the PPA such as Ibom Power, OmokuFIPL, Trans Amadi FIPL, and Afam FIPL, generation capacities went from 190MW to 150MW, 130MW, 360MW with Eleme not generating into the grid, to 13MW, 31MW, 76MW, and 65MW respectively.
The overall capacity of all plants, which was initially set at 13,461MW, has reduced to a low of 4,022MW as of July 2021.
The decline in plant capacity comes to light as Nigerians await the Nigerian Energy Regulatory Commission’s pledge to supply at least 5000MW of electricity to Nigerians beginning July 1. As of last month, the country’s electricity output has reached an all-time low of 9MW per day.
Sanusi Garba, Chairman of NERC, stated that the whole value chain of the power industry, including Discos, Gencos, and TCN, had committed to signing a contract to provide 5000MW of electricity to customers.
He said, “This is the first time this kind of contract among all parties will take place. In the past, there have been complaints of lack of gas from generation companies, Discos complain of unpaid tariffs, and then the TCN would also say they transmit whatever they get.
“But now, the entire value chain has committed to signing contracts to meet up with the power needs of electricity consumers. The Gencos will sign contracts with gas producers to buy gas to produce. We have also involved gas suppliers who are committed to making gas available.
“Under the contract, Discos are not allowed to buy less than 5000MW, and TCN has also said they can transmit at least 5000MW. So this time around, there will not be a flop by any party.
Garba also stated that the Discos would this time commit to making funds available for Gencos to pay for gas.
On what measures put in place to ensure compliance, Garba said there would be stringent penalties for noncompliance.
The NERC chairman added that the proposed contracts already had the support of the Federal Government and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). He listed major reasons for the recent grid collapses as vandalism of gas pipelines and attacks on transmission towers by vandals.
On what the commission was further doing to stabilise the power grid, he said the Federal Government was currently planning to invest in the national grid through capital expenditure to ensure stability.
However, the Head of Corporate Communications, Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading Plc, Henrietta Ighomrore, stated that relevant stakeholders were locked down in a meeting late last week as NERC made moves to enforce the PPAs between the trading company and players in the power sector.
“We are not about signing a new PPA because each of the companies has an existing contract. But what is ongoing as I speak is that we are all in a meeting on partial reactivation of the PPA”, she said.
She said relevant stakeholders were determined to abide by the contract geared towards delivering at least 5000MW of electricity to Nigerians.
“The discussion is ongoing right now on the partial activation of the PPA contract. The outcome is going to be for the good of Nigeria”, she said, adding that an outcome had yet to be reached.
The National President, Electricity Consumers Association of Nigeria, Chijioke James, said Nigerian consumers were told years ago that the generation capacity was over 6000MW.
“We are therefore surprised that in 2022 NERC is promising delivery of 5000MW by July 1st. This does not give consumers confidence that the current situation will change for the better soonest”, he said.
