Electricity generation companies in the country have threatened to shut down their power plants if the Federal Government fails to address as a matter of urgency the challenges facing them.
Some of the challenges as detailed by the Association of Power Generation Companies, APGC, the umbrella body for the Gencos, include power rejection by the electricity distribution companies, Discos, liquidity issues and gas constraints due to the sorry state of the market.
A statement signed by the Executive Secretary, APGC, Dr. Joy Ogaji, on Monday noted that the recent decline in available generation capability could be traced to some of challenges mentioned.
The statement read in part: “Few of the thermal power plants were out due to planned maintenance, which is allowed in the sector. The decline was not an act of rebellion by the Gencos neither was it deliberate but was beyond their control.
“This should serve as a wake-up call to the Federal Government to the goings-on in the industry with regards to the Gencos and if the actions are not taken by the necessary agencies, Gencos will be forced to shut down business.
“Available generation capability experienced a drop due to various factors such as gas constraints, ongoing maintenance by some gas suppliers and low load demand by distribution companies, which resulted in reduced generation or outage of some power plants.
“Afam Power Plc (Afam VI Gas/Steam), GT12, 13 and ST10 power plants were shut down for a period of about 16 days due to planned maintenance that was carried out by the gas suppliers on their facilities. Although Afam Power Plc was duly notified about the maintenance, it resulted in a reduction of Afam’s available generation capability from about 490MW to zero.”
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Dr. Ogaji noted that within the period, most of the plants built under the National Integrated Power Project, including Alaoji, Sapele, Olorunsogo, and Omotosho, suffered from gas constraints.
“Some of the companies’ generation capability dropped to zero due to the outage of their power plants which was as a result of gas constraints,” she said.
She also disclosed that gas supply to Alaoji NIPP was cut off by the gas suppliers because the firm could not pay for gas while Jebba Power Station’s generation capability reduced by about 110MW to 360MW due to low load demand.
Reduction in demand by Discos, Ogaji revealed also affected Egbin and Omoku power plants.
Records show that available generation capability dropped to 5,207.57 megawatts in December from 7,238.12MW in November, while average generation rose slightly to 4,162.47MW from 4,093.76MW.
