Power generation plummets to 32.31% as supply value chain lags

Despite a recent electricity tariff hike for “Band A” customers, the country remains plagued by the inadequate power supply, electricity generation continues to plummet to as low as 2,775 megawatts. The megawatts posted yesterday, Thursday, 11 April 2024 indicated a 32.3i per cent decline from 4,099.87MW recorded the week before. This was contained in the data released by the Nigeria Electricity System Operator, NESO, a semi-autonomous unit of the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN). Reports also show that there has been no improvement in the power value chain considering the review of Band A power consumers’ tariff as there is an inadequate supply of gas to the thermal stations, including the poor state of transmission lines as generation averages 4200 megawatts from the start of 2024. The Independent System Operator, ISO, showed that as of 6 pm yesterday, load allocation to the eleven DisCos which stood at 2,775.00 Megawatts gave Abuja Disco the highest allocation at 428MW, followed by Ikeja Electric at 422MW, Eko Disco at 359MW, Ibadan Disco at 335MW, Benin Disco at 227MW and Enugu Disco at 200MW. The distribution companies with the lowest allocation were Yola Disco at 79MW, Jos Disco at 158MW, Kaduna Disco at 181MW, Kano Disco at 188MW and Port Harcourt Disco at 198MW. A proof that generation was inadequate for transmission and distribution to households and organizations across the nation, pushing the DisCos to embark on load shedding to manage spread at different times. This shortfall has necessitated Discos to appease customers through social media, an instance is IBEDC (Ibadan DisCo) which issued a public announcement with the title “List of Band A feeders with Unmet hours of Service (11th, April 2024) which read “dear customers, we sincerely apologize for our inability to deliver the estimated hours of supply on your feeder. This was due to earth faults on the 33kv lines. We remain committed to supplying the estimated hours of supply”.