The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) and the Distribution Companies (DisCos) have attributed the statewide electricity rationing to insufficient gas supplies to power facilities.
Nevertheless, examination of the grid data published by the TCN’s National System Operator, or NSO, unit, revealed that over 4,000 megawatts had been supplied on average during the previous seven days.
Starting from last Saturday, the data shows that the average grid supply over the previous seven days was 4,110MW, 3,991.7MW, 4,002.5MW, 4,019.4MW, 4,134.3MW, 4,191MW, and 4,160.4MW.
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Furthermore, as of Sunday at 3 p.m., 21 of the 25 power plants in the country were still operating on the grid, according to an analysis. Notably, the combined generation of Azura IPP, Delta Power, and Kainji Hydro exceeded 400MW.
The Ibadan power Distribution Company (IBEDC) blamed TCN’s scheduled repair and vandalism of power assets for the continuous rationing in its franchise area in a statement that was made public on Sunday.
The company said: “One of the primary factors is the low supply of gas to generating companies which has led to a gradual decrease in available generation into the grid.
“This has significantly reduced the power available on the transmission grid for onward supply to IBEDC, and in turn, greatly hindered our ability to provide power to customers within our franchise, namely Oyo, Ogun, Osun, Kwara, and partly in Kogi, Niger, and Ekiti states.
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“Secondly, scheduled maintenance activities conducted by the Transmission Company of Nigeria in January and March 2024 necessitated planned outages in specific areas of our network.
‘’While these measures are essential for ensuring the long-term reliability of electricity infrastructure, we recognize the inconvenience they may cause and sincerely apologize for any disruptions experienced by our customers.
“Furthermore, vandalism and theft of electricity infrastructure remain a major issue negatively impacting power supply. An example is the unfortunate vandalism of TCN towers in Ogun State in May 2023, which resulted in over seven months of darkness for many of our valued customers.
“At IBEDC we are particularly confronted with the escalating cases of vandalism, with over 40 incidents recorded in 2024 alone. The theft of valuable assets such as transformer oil, cables, and aluminum conductors poses a significant challenge to our operations, as communities affected are thrown into extended periods of outage depending on the severity of the act.
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“Energy theft through illegal connections, meter bypass, and illicit meters are also major issues affecting adequate supply of power to customers because they result in revenue losses and liquidity problems for the electricity value chain.
‘’We have also noticed an alarming upsurge, with over 1,450 identified cases of energy theft between January and February 2024.’’
While denying any responsibility, TCN said in a statement that it was still able to supply the designated power to Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC) in spite of the attack on one of its lines that supplied electricity to the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
The company stated that low generation was the cause of the shortage of supply to residences and businesses in a statement signed by Ndidi Mbah, general manager of public affairs.
TCN stated: “The current power supply situation in Abuja is not attributable to inadequate transmission capacity resulting from the Gwagwalada tower vandalism incident of February 26, 2024.
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“This is because TCN supplies AEDC bulk power for Abuja and its environs through three major 330kV transmission lines. The three bulk power sources are to ensure flexibility and reliability.
“Contrary to recent publications in the media, therefore, the Gwagwalada incident impacted the redundancy and flexibility of bulk supply and not the capability of TCN to supply adequate bulk supply to Abuja and environs.
“This simply means that the wheeling capacity of TCN to Abuja has not been affected because the available 2X330kV Shiroro – Katampe Transmission lines are sufficient to convey allocated power to Abuja.
“It is important to note that the current power situation being experienced generally is a result of low load allocation, caused by low power generation into the nation’s grid.’’
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