Power Minister assures adequate supply to Lagos, interrupted areas

The Minister of Power, Chinedu Nebo has assured Nigerians that effort is being made to normalise electricity supply to parts of the country where shortage has been experienced lately. 

Chinedu Nebo expressed deep regret over the situation in parts of Lagos and other areas that have suffered reduced supply;  attributing the mishap to the gas supply challenges already being addressed by the Federal Government. He also explained that decline in the quantity supplied to the Lagos area was a consequence of gas shortage which resulted from the recent extensive vandalisation of the Escravos Lagos in the western axis of the gas pipeline.

He said that the repair work on the pipeline which was completed last week took longer days due to the discovery of new leakages in the process of reinstallation by engineers. He added that the completion of repairs and re-commissioning of the pipeline which was earlier planned for this week has been rescheduled to the end of January, 2014.

According to the Minister, an increase in power generation was recorded this week despite the unfavorable gas situation with Lagos receiving a maximum load of 816 megawatts on Sunday, 29th of December, 2013 which is below the minimum requirement of 1,000 megawatts. He described this as inadequate and unacceptable for the nation’s commercial nerve centre.

“As part of the concerted efforts to sustain the recent gains made in power supply across the country, work by in-house engineers and technicians from the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) is at advanced stage towards reinstating  the 132 KVA Transmission Tower No. 69 which collapsed a few days ago. The line will be functional in a few days with successful coupling and stringing by TCN engineers. With the 330 KVA Transmission Line from Afam to Alaoji working and most industries shut for the end of year, the 330KVA line is not carrying full load. Therefore, no area is badly affected by the collapse of the 132 KVA Transmission Tower No. 69,” he said.

He expressed optimism that both the reconstructed 132 KVA Transmission Tower No 69 and lines would soon be ready.
The Minister appealed to the media to persist in partnering the Ministry towards speeding   up the power sector reforms through engaging public enlightenment on the prevailing issues in the sector as well as reporting on the positive results of government privatisation initiatives.