Power supply from the national grid again slumped below the 3,000-megawatts mark to 2,988.72MW on Sunday on the back of gas shortfall and lower water supply to the nation’s thermal and hydropower plants respectively, our correspondent learnt on Monday.
Gas-fired power plants generate about 70 per cent of the nation’s electricity, while the balance is derived from hydro power plants, including the Kainji and Jebba power stations, which have a combined installed capacity of 1,330MW.
The downturn in power generation has exacerbated outages and load-shedding being experienced in many parts of the country, and reversed the recent slight improvement seen after supply fell to 2,767.45MW exactly one month ago.
Electricity supply fell to 2,988.72MW on April 12, while 3,060.37MW was generated that day, according to data obtained from the Federal Ministry of Power on Monday.
Power generation had on March 11 dropped to 2,747.45MW, while 2,676.64MW was sent out to consumers, down from 3,505MW on March 8.
Power generation and supply in the country have dipped below the 3,000MW mark for at least five times this year.
On February 10, electricity supply plunged to 2,869.84MW as 2,936.83MW was generated that day, according to the Presidential Task Force on Power.
On January 11, 2015, generation fell to 2,502.39MW, while 2,449.04MW was sent out. Generation fell to 2,948.45MW on January 6, while 2,880.31MW was sent out to the distribution companies.
Source: Punch