29042019 - Economy bleeds as power system collapses

Vanguard, MONDAY, APRIL 29, 2019—5
POCKET CARTOON
2019 NAF Day —From second left: Chief of Information and Communication, Nigerian Air Force
headquarters, AVM Maxwell Nnaji; Chief of Training and Operations, AVM Oladayo Amao; Chief of
Administration, AVM Kinsley Lar and representative of the Chief of the Air Staff, AVM Emmanuel
Anebi, at the 2019 NAF Day Interdenominational Service at Saint Anthony Padua Catholic Chaplaincy
Air Force Base in Abuja, yesterday. Photo: NAN.
Economy bleeds as power
system collapses
Continues from Page 1
day. The reported gas
constraint was 2,039.5
MW.”
“The reported line
constraint was 0 MW.
The reported frequency
management constraint
due to loss of DISCO
feeders was 1,963 MW.
The water management
constraint was 150 MW.
The power sector lost an
estimated 2,048, mw due
to constraints on this
day.”
Investigation by
Vanguard in all parts of
the nation, yesterday,
showed that the situation
has not improved
because the Nigerian
Gas Company, NGC, a
subsidiary of the
Nigerian National
Petroleum Corporation,
NNPC, was not able to
complete the
rehabilitation of the
Escravos-Lagos Gas
Pipeline System.
Consequently, Egbin,
Omotosho, Olorunsogo
and Papalanto Power
stations were not able to
generate power for
transmission and
distribution, thus forcing
many Electricity
Distribution Companies,
DISCOs to express their
helplessness to
consumers.
TCN
In its statement sent to
Vanguard, the
Transmission Company
of Nigeria, TCN, had
stated: “The National
Grid is experiencing
reduced power
generation due mainly to
emergency maintenance
by NGC of its gas
pipeline supplying gas
to Egbin, Omotosho,
Olorunsogo and Paras
Power Stations.
“This was reportedly
caused by leakage on the
Escravos-Lagos gas
pipeline, necessitating
the total shutdown of the
four power generating
plants on 25th April,
2019.”
In a statement signed
by the General Manager
Public Affairs, TCN
stated that prior to the
incident, Omotosho
NIPP and Olorunsogo
NIPP had already been
out due to gas supply
issues.
According to the
statement, NGC worked
hard to repair the gas
pipeline so that normal
gas supply can be
restored to the affected
power plants.
Presently, repairs have
been completed and the
pipeline is currently
being pressured prior to
resumption of gas supply
to the affected power
stations
TCN further noted that
it has diverted about
312MW load from the
Benin-Egbin 330kV
transmission line which
tripped off at 23.14hours
on Tuesday, 23rd April,
2019, to Omotosho –
Ikeja West and Ayede-
Ikeja 330kV transmission
lines, due to on-going
repair works on the
Benin-Egbin 330kV
transmission line.
It stated: “The tripping
was caused by a line cut
between Ofosu and
Okada towns; however
TCN engineers are
making concerted efforts
to complete repair work
on the transmission line,
despite the very difficult
terrain at that location.
“Due to the diversion of
the load from this line to
the two transmission
lines equally feeding
Lagos axis, load
shedding in Lagos axis
was minimised to about
280MW at the first
instance. However with
the attendant gas supply
issues and sudden gas
leakage problem, load
shedding increased
considerably.”
GENCOs report
In its latest report
obtained by Vanguard,
the Electricity
Generation Companies,
GENCOs, indicated that
power generation
increased as follows:
4,214.32 (2013);
6,154.05 (2014); 6,616.28
(2015); 7,183.59 (2016);
6,993.14 (2017) and
7,383.04 (2018).
But investigation
showed that it has not
been possible to transmit
and distribute the current
unstable generated
power to consumers.
Executive secretary,
Association of Power
Generation Companies,
Dr. Joy Ogaji said:
“Unless the challenges
in the power chain are
tackled, power output
will continue to be poor.
The generation
companies are ready and
willing to generate
power that will sustain
the country on a daily
basis but they are being
constrained by factors
beyond their control.
If power output must
improve, the
transmission and
distribution arm of the
power chain must be
strictly regulated. The
transmission grid must
be upgraded to ensure
8,000MW available
capacity from GENCOs is
put on the grid. The
distributors (DISCOS)
Continues on Page 41
By Bose Adelaja,Yinka Latona,
Dickson Omobola, Tolulope
Oke&Erinfolami Abdulkudus
What kind of people should Buhari appoint as ministers? (1)
We
need
entrepreneurs
with great insight on
how to resurrect a dying
economy. Furthermore,
young ministers that
would not be suffering
from dementia in
proffering solutions to
the country’s problems
should be appointed.
Mr. Jerry Matthew
Student
The ministers should
not be picked based
on politics or party
loyalty. It should be based
on credibility, capability
and reliability. Nigeria
needs capable hands that
would take her from the
murky waters she has
been thrown into by
unqualified individuals.
Miss Oladosu Jumai
Student
There is always a right
person for every job. Mr.
President should use his
discretion to appoint the
right persons irrespective of
their tribe or religion. If a
Delta man or woman is
qualified, then he or she
should be appointed. The
past achievements of these
people would prove their
eligibility for the positions.
Miss Ngozi Leonard
Corps member
The President should
appoint men and
women of vision on merit.
They should be people
who truly have the interest
of this nation at heart.
Gone are the days of
using ministerial seat as
compensation for
politicians who were
found unpopular with
their people.
Mr. William Jimoh
Life Coach
Mr. President should
do away with
tribalism, politics and
religion in choosing
members of his cabinet.
He should go for those who
have excelled in their
fields. For example, if he
wants to nominate the
Minister of Health, the
candidate must have
excelled in the medical
profession and not just
picking someone randomly
because he is a loyalist or an
ardent acolyte.
Mr.Olanrewaju Ibitoye
Analyst
The kind of persons to be
appointed as ministers
will be determined by the vision
of the President. He must
clearly define this within the
context of his party’s manifesto.
For instance, he can only
appoint a finance minister who
believes in IMF or World
Bank's neo-liberal economic
death pills if his government
thinks that is the best way to
go. On education, a minister
who believes in
commercialisation of pubic
education should not be
the option.
Mr. Adeola Soetan
Activist