Power Generation Still at 3,600MW Despite Repair of Escravos-Lagos Pipeline
Ejiofor Alike
Despite the claim by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) that it has repaired the EscravosLagos Pipeline System (ELPS) and resumed gas supply to power stations in the Southwest, the country’s electricity generation was still around 3,600MW yesterday, THISDAY has learnt.
A section of the ELPS at Abakila in Ondo State blew up in flames on January 2 as a result of bush fire, which disrupted gas supply to five power stations, leading to two system collapses within 24 hours.
The spokesman of NNPC, Mr. Ndu Ughamadu had told THISDAY on Sunday that the corporation had completed the assessment of the damage but was set to start repairs.
But in a curious twist, the corporation said in a statement yesterday that it had completed repairs and restored gas supply to the affected power plants.
THISDAY’s investigation, however, revealed that despite the restoration of gas supply to the plants, average power generation was approximately 3,600MW yesterday.
Before the fire incident last Tuesday, average generation was put at 4,300MW on the previous day by the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), with 4,685.3MW as peak generation and 3,667.5MW as the lowest electricity generated.
This performance was above the average of 3,610MW recorded yesterday, despite the restoration of gas supply to the power stations.
The spotlight on grid operations showed that on Saturday, peak generation was put at 3,929.7MW, while the lowest generation was 173MW.
According to the operational report, a total of 3,227.90MW was sent to the grid as of 06:00hours on Sunday.
With the poor performance of the grid, electricity supply has remained epileptic across the country.
NNPC had noted that with the restoration of the ELPS and resumption of gas supply, the affected power plants with a combined generating capacity of 1,143MW would resume power generation.
The power plants include Egbin Power Plant in Lagos State; Olorunshogo Power Plant, PEL Olorunshogo and Paras Power Plant in Ogun State; and Omotosho Power Plant in Ondo State.
The corporation, however, did not indicate when it completed the repairs and when the affected power stations would resume full operation.
Before last Tuesday’s fire incident, the country had on December 18, 2017 attained a generation peak of 5,222.3MW.
The 36-inch ELPS is a natural gas pipeline built in 1989 to supply gas from Escravos in the Niger Delta to various consumption utilisation areas.
It supplies gas to power plants in the South-west and also feeds the West African Gas Pipeline System.