Blackouts over gas shortage spark fresh concerns in Nigeria’s failing power sector

DAILY POST

Blackouts in parts of Nigeria due to a gas supply shortage to generation plants have sparked fresh concerns about the perennial challenges facing the nation’s power sector.

DAILY POST reported last weekend that the Nigerian Federal Government and Transmission Company of Nigeria blamed the drop in electricity supply to Nigeria in recent weeks on gas constraints.

Months back, the government also blamed gas shortage for reduced electricity supply by Niger Delta Power Holding Company (NDPHC) to electricity distribution companies.

Nigeria’s electricity supply relies on 26 nationwide hydro and gas-fired power plants.

Nigeria’s available electricity generation capacity has hovered between 3,000MW and 5,000MW since the sector was privatized in 2013 for a population of over 200 million.

Ten years after the sector’s privatization, it has refused to improve despite spending N3.348 trillion on electricity subsidies, according to the latest data by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission.