Unexpected shut-down of two of Nigeria’s power plants on Sunday has increased the number of idle plants to nine and made the nation’s electricity supply nosedive to just over 3,400 MW – a significant drop from last week’s average of 3,920 MW. The latest shut-downs, caused by gas shortages, affected the 625 MW Olorunsogo-II unit and the Trans-Amadi plant (25 MW).
Moreover, output from Nigeria’s largest gas power station –Ebin near Lagos – fell from 654 MW to just over 450 MW from the middle of last week.
Gas supply shortages continue to adversely affect the continuity of operation of power plants, causing frequent brownouts and power cuts.
Gas shortages deter investors
Investment in new generating capacity would be needed to balance supply and demand; however, the persistent gas shortages have made investors shy away from realising a 1,000 MW gas power project in the Niger Delta. “How do you make the investments when you are generating far below your current capacity due to gas problems,’’ Transnational Corp CEO Emmanuel Nnorom commented.
Fuel shortages have brought much of Nigeria’s gas-fired capacity to a standstill. Less than half of the installed capacity of 6,000 MW can be dispatched. Lack of electricity transmission infrastructure is yet another stumbling blocks for the Nigerian goverment to reach its goal of tripling generating capacity from 3 GW last year to 105 GW by 2025.
Ecobank analysts doubt that these targets can be achieved as multiple end-users refuse to pay their energy bills in anger over frequent blackouts. Fuel shortages and lack of project financing are further issues that have proved hard to overcome.