•Power generation dips to 4,712.34MW
By Adewale Sanyaolu
Electricity consumers have raised the alarm over the continous drop in electricity supply to households and businesses.
Some of the consumers who spoke to Daily Sun in seperate interviews lamented that the development was having a negative impact on socio-economic activities as many small-scale businesses have shut down.
Findings by Daily Sun revealed that power supply has dropped to as low as five hours a day in some parts of Lagos and its environs.
Chairman of Egbiri Community Development Association (CDA) in the Abule Egba area of Lagos, Mr. Babasola Adeyemi, said for the better part of the yuletide, most homes were in darkness, making a mess of the celebrations.
He said most of the households within his CDA have inaudanted him with calls on the abysmal supply of electricity.
He lamented that the worst were SME operators who depend on electricity for their day- to-day survival.
He added that supply within Abule Egba and environs has dropped to less than five hours of supply daily.
He, however, called on all relevant authorities within the power sector value chain to make reliable and steady electricity supply a priority in 2024.
Also speaking, the manager of a Lounge on Allen Avenue in Ikeja, Mr. Femi Owoyele, said power supply for his daily operations has gone from bad to worse, noting that he spends over N20,000 daily to power his generators to keep his drinks chilled.
He worried that most SME operators are lately battling with a sharp rise in their overhead cost as a result of poor power supply.
‘’The situation for us that are on estimated billing is pathetic as we have to pay for what we don’t consume.
Supply or no supply, we have to pay about N70,000 monthly.
It is time NERC steps in to enforce the methodology for estimated billing as those on estimation are being reaped off.
It appears NERC is not enforcing the estimated billing methodology, hence the reason Discos are charging arbitrarily,”.
In his reaction, a resident in the Ajah axis, Lagos Island, Mr. Jude Abanobi, said that power supply to estates within the Ajah corridor has dropped significantly.
He added that most SMEs within the Ajah corridor are finding it very difficult to stay afloat as they continue to deploy a larger chunk of their profit margin to generate alternative power supply.
Abanobi said the effect of poor power supply is increased cost of goods and services, adding that business operators will look for ways to cushion the effect of the additional cost.
Meanwhile, Nigeria’s available power generation capacity in the first quarter of 2022 dropped to 4,712.34MW from 5,465.72MW in the fourth quarter of 2021.
The power generation figure is contained in Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) First Quarter 2022 released recently.
The report stated that in the first quarter of 2022, the average hourly generation of all available units decreased by 190.58MWh/h (-4.44 per cent) from 4,294.02MWh/h in 2021/Q4 to 4,103.11MWh/h.
The commission attributed the decrease to incessant technical faults, gas constraints, as well as undulating load demand patterns that have continued to affect the amount of energy generated by power plants.
NERC added that it is working towards the gradual activation of contracts to incentives commercial and contractual discipline throughout the value chain.
“There were twenty-six (26) grid-connected power stations in 2022/Q1 consisting of nineteen (19) gas, four hydro, two steam, and one gas/steam-powered plants. The plants’ average available generation capacity during the quarter was 4,712.34MW representing a 13.78 per cent decrease (-753.38MW) compared to 5,465.72MW recorded in 2021/Q4”, the report stated.