Teddy Oscar, Abuja
As if the already fluctuating national grid is not enough, Nigeria and Niger Republic will experience a three-day poor supply of electricity as power is expected to drop by 365 megawatts.
This is because the Shiroro Generation Company (Genco) will be shutting down to rectify some technical faults.
A statement issued on Sunday, by the public affairs general manager, of the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), Mrs. Seun Olagunju, said that the shutdown will last for three days, beginning from Monday, January 27.
“There would be unavoidable drop in the quantity of power available for TCN to transmit to the distribution companies due to the expected shutdown of the Genco for three days, between January Monday 27th to Wednesday 29th,” it added.
The statement noted that during the period, grid generation will reduce by 300mw; hence the nationwide load shedding.
“The impact of the load shedding would be higher in the Northern axis of the nation, especially Kano, due to voltage instability issues previously affecting power supply in that axis,” TCN said.
The national grid, whose capacity stood at 3,563mw by December last year, would be going down to about 3200mw due to the shutdown of the generation facility.
In the meantime, Kano State, which supplies electricity to the neighbouring country, Niger Republic based on a federal agreement would have to grapple with the impact of the shutdown.
The state disco acquired by Sahel Power SPV in December decried poor allocation from the TCN.
Recall that there have also been power outages already stemming from gas pipelines vandalism, which the minister of power, Prof. Chinedu Ositadimma Nebo, assured of being restored in the next few weeks.
The shutdown of the station is to enable the maintenance crew of Genco to rectify ground fault on the station’s Carbon Dioxide Control Panel, which provides vital auxiliary services necessary for the running of the power plant, the statement said.
It further explained that the control panel is a fire protection scheme for all the units in the power station and that if it is out on repairs, all the units in the station would have no protection against fire outbreak, hence the need to shut down all the units of the power plant.
The transmission company however apologised for the inconvenience, which the planned load shedding would cause electricity consumers nationwide during the period.
It assured that it will continue to work with the power generating stations and distribution companies nationwide, to improve and stabilise the power supply situation in the nation.
