Adewale Sanyaolu
Four power generation plants were yesterday cut off from gas supply over their inability to meet their financial obligations to their respective suppliers, Daily Sun investigation has revealed
With this development, power generation has dropped by about 300 Mega Watts(MW).
The cutoff of gas supply to the power plant is not unconnected with a N1 trillion debt owed by power generation firms across the country.
The power plants are Rivers Independent Power Plant managed by First Independent Power Limited, Alaoji power plant and two others
Speaking to Daily Sun in a telephone interview, the Executive Secretary of Association of Power Generation Companies(APGC), Joy Ogaji, confirmed this, saying the development is sequel to its members’ indebtedness to gas suppliers.
Ogaji said Gencos in 2018 fared as the system allowed them to, saying they have enough power that the syetem could not take and that when taken, they are not fully paid for because there are no guarantees for same.
She noted that, what could be done to bring lasting solution to the challenges faced in the sector was to completely separate or remove politics from the business of power.
‘‘The power sector should be clearly managed as a fully commercial sector controlled by the forces of demand and supply so that the ability to pay for efficient services delivered are guaranteed,’’ she advised.
On her expectations for the sector in 2019, the Gencos Executive Secretary said government, policy makers and regulators should live up to their expectations to do the needful, adding that the power sector is the wheel upon which the economy resolves, hence the state of the sector resonates in other sectors.
She said available generation capability experienced a drop due to various factors such as gas constraints, on-going maintenance by some gas suppliers and low load demand by Distribution Companies (DisCos) which resulted in reduced generation or outage of some power plants.
“For instance; Afam power Plc (Afam VI Gas/Steam), GT12, 13 and ST10 power plants were shut down for a period of about 16 days due to a planned maintenance that was carried out by the gas suppliers on their facilities.
Although Afam power Plc was duly notified about the maintenance, it resulted in a reduction of Afams available generation capability from about 490MW to 0MW…”