Power Minister issues schedule on Gas-to-Power facilities maintenance

Abuja (Federal Ministry of Power News) – The Minister of Power, Chinedu Nebo has recently issued a maintenance schedule statement on behalf of all the stakeholders in Nigeria’s Electricity Supply Industry, expressing appreciation for the understanding and support from Nigerians in the arduous task of revamping the power sector.
 
He further said that the support and cooperation have enabled the Nigerian Government to faithfully deliver on the sector’s roadmap as well as achieve a liberal and vibrant industry. He intensified that the industry has lately begun to yield visible results in terms of improved supply to homes and businesses in many parts of the country.
 
Chinedu Nebo inferred that effort is being made to consolidate on the successes and ensure delivery on the President’s mandate for irreversible improvement in all parts of the country as well as publicizing the planned closure of the Utorogu and Ughelli East Gas Plants for maintenance by the Nigeria Petroleum Development Company (NPDC).  He noted that the maintenance operation will impact on the output of the power plants fed by the gas facilities in Egbin and Omotosho among others.  He continued that the plants which are to be shut for some periods of time on different dates will result to temporary loss of generated power.
 
The Minister assured them that the shutdown will not last longer than the small period needed for the maintenance and re-commissioning work, saying experts will be at work to ensure that available power is distributed appropriately to minimize inconvenience to consumers. He further stated that adequate power supply has been the focus of the Goodluck Jonathan administration and that it is constantly receiving priority attention for the purpose of justifying the resources spent to meet the yearnings of Nigerians and investors for adequate supply towards socioeconomic development.
 
“The planned shutdown and re-commissioning works are to take place between 2nd June and 22nd June 2014. At the completion of this scheduled maintenance and upgrades, there will be improved gas production and quality from the plants which will noticeably increase the output of the affected power plants and increase generated power,” he said.
 
He solicited for understanding, cooperation and support from everyone in the duration of the gas plant shutdown over the inconvenience it might cause to parts of the country where supply will be temporarily affected.