BUSINESS Electricity: 16,729mw wasted in 7 days as load rejection persists
‘0.55% rise in GDP not yet impactful’
Latest updates of the national grid performance by the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) have shown that 16,729 megawatts (mw) was wasted in seven days September 18 to 24, 2017.
The 11 electricity Distribution Companies (DisCos) networks got 19,777mw from TCN and distributed 17,573mw. However, the 16,729mw was constrained because they couldn’t take that even when it was available, an official at TCN said.
The highest rejection of 3,700mw happened on September 21 and the lowest of 2,350mw occurred on September 18.
Ikeja DisCo led in the figure with 3,594mw while Yola DisCo was the least with 541mw. The other top three load rejecters were Ibadan DisCo with 2,440mw, Abuja with 2,254mw and Enugu with 2,131mw.
Kaduna DisCo rejected 1,806mw, Eko rejected 1,756mw and Benin could not take 1,738mw. The others are Kano (1,565mw), Port Harcourt (1,328mw) and Jos (1,276mw).
Another data source indicated that for last Saturday (23rd) alone, 2,593mw of electricity was available but not utilised due to the constraints of DisCos’ load rejection and gas supply issues at the Generation Companies (GenCos) end.
The 11 DisCos could not take 1,806mw from 10 GenCos. Ihovbor National Integrated Power Project (NIPP) GenCo lost 256mw in three turbines; Omotosho GenCo’s four turbines could not generate 190mw and; Olorunsogo GenCo stopped 152mw from four turbines due to the constraint.
Geregu GenCo lost 285mw in three turbines; Omotosho NIPP lost 120mw from a turbine; Afam VI lost 150mw from a turbine and Egbin GenCo could not produce 114mw from two of its turbines.
Odukpani NIPP also lost 240mw in two turbines, Geregu NIPP lost 145mw from a turbine and Shiroro hydro GenCo lost 154mw across three turbines, the data from the Ministry of Power, Works and Housing showed.
Gas supply constraint caused the loss of 787mw in four GenCos. Of this figure, 290mw was constrained at Geregu NIPP as two turbines ran out of gas. Omotosho NIPP lost 120mw from an idle turbine; Sapele NIPP did not produce 337mw from three of its turbines, and Omoku Power Station did not produce 40mw with its two turbines.
On load rejection, TCN last week said it appointed focal persons to interface with the 11 DisCos to resolve issues of load rejection and minimise technical challenges.
However, the impact of the engagement is yet to be felt by the public as the energy load unutilisation figure the public transmission utility published remains high. FLIGHT
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