NAIJA NEWS
It has become a matter of great concern that Nigerians nationwide have been experiencing distressingly frequent electricity power disruptions, resulting in immense difficulties for businesses, unbearable heat for families, and hindered provision of essential services.
Gaining insight into the causes of these consistent blackouts is of utmost importance in effectively dealing with this arduous predicament.
The recent decline in electricity supply in Nigeria has been attributed to gas constraints by both the Nigerian Federal Government and the Transmission Company of Nigeria.
Similarly, months ago, the government had also cited gas shortage as the reason for the reduced electricity supply by the Niger Delta Power Holding Company (NDPHC) to distribution companies.
Naija News understands that Nigeria heavily relies on 26 hydro and gas-fired power plants for its electricity generation.
Despite the privatization of the sector in 2013, the available electricity generation capacity has remained between 3,000MW and 5,000MW for a population of over 200 million.
Surprisingly, even after ten years of privatization, the sector has failed to improve, despite the government spending N3.348 trillion on electricity subsidies, as per the latest data from the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission. Furthermore, the country plans to allocate an additional N1.6 trillion for electricity subsidies in 2024.
In spite of the substantial amount of money being spent on the power sector, Nigeria continues to face numerous challenges such as insufficient investment, inadequate enforcement of electricity policies, regulatory uncertainty, limitations in gas supply and transmission systems, as well as significant shortcomings in power sector planning in recent years.
According to the third quarter report of the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) in 2023, the constraints related to gas supply remain a major obstacle for the country’s national grid.
This situation persists despite Nigeria’s vast gas reserves, which amount to 208.83 trillion cubic feet, representing 33 per cent of Africa’s total gas reserves of 620TCF, as stated by Gbenga Komolafe, the Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC).
Similar to other sectors in Nigeria, the power industry faces various bottlenecks that hinder its growth.
What The Government Is Doing
In regards to this issue, the special adviser for strategic communication and media relations to the Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, Bolaji Tunji, addressed the matter on Monday.
He stated that the federal government is taking action to resolve the gas constraint challenge faced by GenCos.
Tunji mentioned that the government has already initiated discussions with stakeholders to tackle these challenges, which also includes the settlement…
