Power plants in Nigeria will be shut-down if the Federal Government doesn’t address the challenges electricity generation companies (GENCOs)are facing in Nigeria, the Association of Power Generation Companies (APGC) have warned.
It was revealed on Monday that the decline in power generation is as a result of the piled up challenges in the electricity market, adding that the difficulty is beyond Gencos.
Last year October, Gencos had been forced to operate below their maximum installed-capacity, with the association’s Executive Secretary, Joy Ogaji blaming the distribution and transmission chains of the power channel.
But with the challenges persisting, Ogaji warns Gencos will have to shut-down power plants across Nigeria if relevant agencies don’t take necessary actions to address the challenges; stating the decline was not an act of rebellion from Gencos.
“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.”
Challenges facing Gencos
In a statement by Ogaji, among the various challenges facing electricity generation company includes liquidity issues, power rejection by the electricity distribution companies and gas constraints due to the state of the market.
Data on electricity generation
Power generation plunged to 5,207.57 megawatts in December 2018 from 7,238.12MW in November 2018, while average generation rose slightly to 4,162.47MW from 4,093.76MW.
While defending reasons for the drop in electricity generation, she stated that;
“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.”
Also, Alaoji, Sapele, Olorunsogo, and Omotosho power plants, all of which were built under the National Integrated Power Project suffered from gas constraints, while Jebba Power Station’s generation capability reduced by about 110MW to 360MW due to low load demand.
