The Federal Government has announced measures to improve electricity supply in the country.
This was stated by the Minister of Power, Abubakar Aliyu, at the conclusion of an emergency meeting in Abuja.
Mr. Aliyu said the FG will address current difficulties in the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry (NESI).
The national grid collapsed last Monday and Tuesday as a result of a loss of around 1,100 megawatts of generation capacity, plunging the entire country into darkness.
The loss of generation capacity, according to Aliyu, was caused by simultaneous gas supply outages at the Okpai NIPP in Calabar and the Afam VI power plants in Delta State.
The minister claimed that the current water management regime at the Kainji, Jebba, and Shiroro power plants exacerbated the low available generation capacity for wheeling by the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) to consumers.
Aliyu said the gas pipeline, which had been damaged by repeated acts of vandalism, had been repaired as part of the efforts to restore normalcy in the energy supply system.
He also stated that the Okpai power plant has resumed power production and is now generating an average of 300 megawatts.
He further stated that the Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading Plc has been directed to embark into fast-track negotiations on an interim energy sales deal with the Nigerian Agip Oil Company (NAOC).
The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) has approved a special gas pricing regime for emergency contracting of gas from the Nigerian Gas Marketing Company Ltd, according to the minister, in order to optimize the capacity utilization of the power plants owned by the Niger Delta Power Holding Company Ltd (NDPHC).
In the medium term, he stated that the government has reached an agreement with Nigerian Gas and Investment Company (NGPIC), a subsidiary of NNPC, on the framework for overhauling the Okoloma gas processing facility, restoring full capacity to the 650MW Afam VI combined cycle power plant.
Aliyu expressed regrets over the recent series of system failures, claiming that they were caused by a 330kV transmission line snap.
