Nigeria electricity supply expected to improve within 72 hours
By the AFREEQUE newsroom, based on Punch
Nigeria's Energy Minister Joseph Tegbe announces an improvement in electricity supply within 48 to 72 hours. Outages affect four states, including Lagos and the Federal Capital Territory, due to work at Egbin, gas supply constraints and sabotaged transmission lines, according to Joseph Tegbe.
Nigeria's Energy Minister, Joseph Tegbe, said the first generation units affected by the disruptions should be brought back into service within 48 to 72 hours. He attributed the difficulties to scheduled maintenance at the Egbin thermal power plant in Lagos and gas supply constraints affecting several power plants, according to a statement published on Friday on his Facebook page and reported by Punch.
Tegbe also said the sabotage of electricity transmission lines had limited the possibility of routing power through alternative routes, particularly towards Lagos. His ministry is working with operators to progressively restore generation units, improve gas supply and repair damaged infrastructure, he said.
The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), which manages the electricity transmission network, also disputed the explanation given by Ikeja Electric for the outages on 3 and 4 November. The TCN attributed the decline in electricity available for distribution to a lack of gas for thermal power plants and reduced hydroelectric generation, saying the explanation based on grid instability was inaccurate, according to its Friday statement.
The announcement comes after the electricity shortage in Lagos, published on 6 November, which attributed the outages to a decline in available generation. The difficulties affect Lagos and the Federal Capital Territory in particular, where consumers are experiencing prolonged outages, according to Joseph Tegbe.
