Electricity: Operators Blame Low Generation As Rationing Persists Nationwide

Electricity Distribution Companies, DisCos and the Transmission Company of Nigeria, TCN, have blamed the increasing number of hours without power supply to homes and businesses across the country on low supply from generation companies.

The operators said low power generation was due to lack of adequate gas supply to power plants.

However, checks on grid data posted by the National System Operator, NSO, a unit in the TCN, showed that grid supply had averaged over 4,000 megawatts in the past seven days.

The data showed that average grid supply in the past seven days, beginning from last Saturday, was 4,110MW, 3,991.7MW, 4,002.5MW, 4,019.4MW, 4,134.3MW, 4,191MW and 4,160.4MW.

Further checks also showed that 21 of the nation’s 25 power plants were active on the grid as at 3pm yesterday with Azura IPP, Delta Power and Kainji Hydro generating over 400MW each.

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A statement by Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company, IBEDC, yesterday, also blamed vandalism of electricity assets as well as scheduled maintenance by TCN for the rationing going on in its franchise area.

The company said:  “One of the primary factors is the low supply of gas to generating companies which has led to a gradual decrease in available generation into the grid.

“This has significantly reduced the power available on the transmission grid for onward supply to IBEDC, and in turn, greatly hindered our ability to provide power to customers within our franchise, namely Oyo, Ogun, Osun, Kwara and partly in Kogi, Niger and Ekiti states.

“Secondly, scheduled maintenance activities conducted by the Transmission Company of Nigeria in January and March, 2024 necessitated planned outages in specific areas of our network.

‘’While these measures are essential for ensuring the long-term reliability of electricity infrastructure, we recognize the inconvenience they may cause and sincerely apologize for any disruptions experienced by our customers.

“Furthermore, vandalism and theft of electricity infrastructure remain a major issue negatively impacting power supply. An example is the unfortunate vandalism of TCN towers in Ogun State in May 2023, which resulted in over seven months of darkness for many of our valued customers.

“At IBEDC we are particularly confronted with the escalating cases of vandalism, with over 40 incidents recorded in 2024 alone. The theft of valuable assets such as transformer oil, cables and aluminum conductors poses a significant challenge to our operations, as communities affected are thrown into extended periods of outage depending on the severity of the act.

“Energy theft through illegal connections, meter bypass and illicit meters are also major issues affecting adequate supply of power to customers, because they result in revenue losses and liquidity problems for the electricity value chain.

‘’We have also noticed an alarming upsurge, with over 1,450 identified cases of energy theft between January and February 2024.’’

But absolving itself of blame, TCN in a statement noted that despite the attack on one of its lines bringing power to the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, it retained the capacity to deliver the allocated power to Abuja Electricity Distribution Company, AEDC.

The company in a statement by the General Manager, Public Affairs, Ndidi Mbah, explained that low generation was the factor behind the lack of supply to homes and businesses.

TCN stated:  “Current power supply situation in Abuja is not attributable to inadequate transmission capacity resulting from the Gwagwalada tower vandalism incident of February 26, 2024.

“This is because TCN supplies AEDC bulk power for Abuja and environs through three major 330kV transmission lines. The three bulk power sources are to ensure flexibility and reliability .

“Contrary to recent publications in the media, therefore, the Gwagwalada incident impacted the redundancy and flexibility of bulk supply and not the capability of TCN to supply adequate bulk supply to Abuja and environs.

“This simply means that the wheeling capacity of TCN to Abuja has not been affected because the available 2X330kV Shiroro – Katampe Transmission lines are sufficient to convey allocated power to Abuja.

“It is important to note that the current power situation being experienced generally is a result of low load allocation, caused by low power generation into the nation’s grid.’’