Power supply worsens, Shiroro plant shut

    
Nigerians across the country will from today (Monday) experience a drop in electricity supply as power generation decreases by 300 megawatts as a result of the shutdown of the Shiroro Power Plc’s plant in Niger State.

This, according to the Transmission Company of Nigeria, will result in an unavoidable drop in the quantity of power available for it to transmit to the distribution companies.

The TCN said Shiroro Power Plc had announced that its power station would be shut for three days, from Monday, January 27 to Wednesday, January 29, 2014.

The General Manager, Public Affairs, TCN, Mrs. Seun Olagunju, said in a statement on Sunday that the shutdown of the station was to enable the engineering maintenance crew to rectify a ground fault on the station’s carbon dioxide control panel.

The panel, according to Olagunju, provides vital auxiliary services necessary for the running of the Shiroro plant.

She explained that the control panel was a fire protection system for all the units in the power station and that if it was out on repairs, all the units would have no protection against fire outbreak, hence the need to shut down all of them.

The statement read in part, “During the period, grid generation will reduce by 300MW, hence the nationwide load shedding. The impact of the load shedding will be higher in the northern part of the nation, especially Kano, due to voltage instability issues previously affecting power supply in that area.”

The TCN apologised for the inconvenience the load shedding would cause the Federal Government and electricity consumers nationwide during the period.

It said it would work with the power generating stations and distribution companies nationwide to improve and stabilise electricity supply.

A source at the Federal Ministry of Power told our correspondent that the drop in power generation was not the fault of the TCN.

The official explained that challenges would be experienced in the first quarter of this year, but expressed the hope that visible improvements would be noticed in the second and third quarters.

The source, who pleaded not to be named, said, “People will complain, especially when you consider the fact that the power sector was recently privatised. But the truth is that the challenges may linger throughout this quarter, but we expect visible and tangible changes from the second and third quarters of this year.”

In another development, the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission has made it compulsory for power investors to always employ the services of Nigerians in whatever project they execute.

In a bid to make this binding, the commission developed the Regulations on National Content Development for the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry, 2013 to nurture and increase local capacity in terms of human resources, manufacturing, etc.

The NERC said the move became necessary as the nation prepared for a greater private participation in the generation and distribution sectors, and the commencement of the Transitional Electricity Market.

A statement issued by the Assistant General Manager, Media, NERC, Ms. Maryam Abubakar, explained that it was the commission’s responsibility to ensure that the various enablers were in place to support the orderly development of the NESI.

Abubakar said, “The regulations shall apply to all licensees of the commission in the NESI, who will consequently be mandated by virtue of these regulations to ensure the development of Nigerian content as a primary element in the execution of all projects. The regulations do not apply to the shareholding of the licensees, but the utilisation of Nigerian human and material resources and services in the industry.”

Copyright PUNCH.