Electricity supply across the country should begin to improve within 48 to 72 hours, according to the Minister of Power, Joseph Tegbe, as the Federal Government moves to tackle the generation and transmission problems behind the recent blackouts.
Tegbe traced the worsening situation to planned maintenance at the Egbin Power Station in Lagos, which he described as Nigeria’s “largest” thermal power generating station. The plant supplies about 16 per cent of the electricity on the national grid.
He made the disclosure in a statement titled ‘Update on Power Situation’, which he posted on his Facebook page on Friday.
“I am aware of the strain that the current outages have placed on households and businesses in four affected states, including Lagos and the Federal Capital Territory.
“Planned maintenance at Egbin Power Station and constraints in gas supply to some thermal power stations have reduced the amount of electricity available on the national grid. Grid operators have, therefore, implemented load shedding in some areas to manage the shortfall,” he said.
The minister added that the sabotage of critical transmission lines had limited the use of alternative routes for delivering electricity to some locations, particularly Lagos.
According to him, his ministry is working with the relevant operators to bring the affected generating units back in phases, improve gas supply and speed up repairs to damaged infrastructure.
“My team and I are working to return the affected generating units to service in phases, with the first units coming back online within the next 48 to 72 hours.
“We are also working with operators to improve gas supply and accelerate repairs to the damaged infrastructure,” he added.
His assurance comes amid mounting complaints from electricity consumers in Lagos and Ogun states over extended blackouts. Residents say the outages have made the current hot weather harder to bear.
Meanwhile, the crisis has sparked a disagreement between the Transmission Company of Nigeria and Ikeja Electric over what caused the recent supply interruptions.
In a statement on Friday, TCN rejected Ikeja Electric’s claim that the outages recorded on November 3 and 4 were due to grid instability. It insisted that inadequate gas supply to thermal power stations and reduced hydroelectric generation were responsible for the drop in electricity available for distribution.
The transmission company called Ikeja Electric’s explanation inaccurate and misleading. It argued that the distribution company had wrongly blamed the transmission network for shortfalls that originated from generation.
“TCN can only transmit the energy made available to it and cannot transmit energy that is not generated,” the company said.
TCN also maintained that the Nigerian Independent System Operator had not found any failure in its transmission network to be the cause of the outages.
It attributed 68 per cent of the interruptions on feeders supplying Ikeja Electric to frequency-control load shedding triggered by low generation. A further 26 per cent, it said, was due to Ikeja Electric’s alleged failure to comply with load allocations, along with faults and maintenance on its distribution network.
According to TCN, the remaining six per cent resulted from its own planned maintenance, switching operations or line limitations.
The disagreement followed an apology by Ikeja Electric to customers on some Band A feeders. The company admitted it failed to meet the minimum daily supply requirement of 20 hours on November 3 and 4.
In an earlier statement on Thursday, Tegbe had also blamed the disruptions on maintenance and operational challenges across the power sector, gas shortages at thermal power stations and reduced output from hydropower plants.
He said the Federal Government was working with TCN, NISO and the electricity distribution companies to address the constraints and restore normal supply.
