Again, Gas Shortages Cause Transmission System Collapse

Ejiofor Alike

There is no end in sight to the worsening electricity supply in the country as the transmission infrastructure yesterday suffered another collapse as a result of gas shortages to the power generating stations across the country, THISDAY has learnt.

THISDAY gathered that before the collapse of the system, which occurred around 7.38 am yesterday, power allocation to the 11 distribution companies had averaged 2,118.86 megawatts, according to the Daily Hourly Load Demand Records obtained exclusively by THISDAY.

It was, however, learnt that after the nationwide blackout, the system started recovering at around 10 am until it was restored partially at 3pm.

Before yesterday’s system collapse, the transmission network had also suffered a collapse on Sunday after an earlier partial collapse that occurred on January 12, which were all caused by inadequate gas supply to the generating plants to boost power generation to an equilibrium level.

A managing director of one of the distribution companies, who spoke to THISDAY off record yesterday, explained that the transmission system is so weak that “when generation exceeds certain level, it will collapse but when generation drops below a certain level, the system will also collapse”

“So, each generating plant must contribute a minimum of certain level of generation to keep the system in equilibrium and prevent a system breakdown. If generation suddenly drops in one or more plants, it will cause disequilibrium that will drag the other plants down and collapse the system. The system disturbances we have had for the past one week are caused by drop in generation due to gas shortages,” he explained.

“The transmission has their own unresolved challenges, which are being tackled with ongoing projects but the immediate challenge now is gas,” he added.

He blamed the low generation in recent days on gas shortages as well as the inability of the generating companies to pay for gas when it is available.

“Power is metered at every point and the Gencos are not paid by the Transmission Company for the power they generate. So, the Gencos cannot pay for the gas even when it is available. The distribution companies cannot pay for the power supplied to them by the Transmission Company because customers are also not paying the Discos. Everything is heading to complete collapse,” he said.

The Daily Operational Report from the System Operator, an arm of the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) showed that after the Sunday collapse of the system, generation ramped up to 3,215.2 megawatts on Tuesday, being the highest for the day.

However, between Tuesday and yesterday, the hourly load demand records showed that the 11 distribution companies were allocated a total of 1,667.21 megawatts of electricity for one hour, 2,393.90 megawatts for five hours, 2,175.33 megawatts for six hours, and 2,013.67 megawatts for 12 hours.

The TCN had assured stakeholders in the power sector at the 11th Monthly Power Sector and Stakeholders Meeting held recently at the Ikeja West Transmission Station in Lagos that transmission projects, including those at Ikeja West, Ajah, Alagbon and Omotosho would be completed before the end of this year to boost transmission capacity to over 6,500 Megawatts

But speaking earlier in a Channels Television Talk Show, Sunrise Daily, on the same day the meeting was held, the Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, argued that TCN had increased its electricity wheeling capacity to 7200MW, claiming that the transmission network was no longer the weakest link in the sector as often stated by stakeholders.

“The generalisation about the grid not been able to carry what we generate is really an inaccurate reflection of realities. We have expanded the grid; additional projects are going on, and the Kudenda substation in Kaduna is part of the grid expansion,” Fashola reportedly said.