TCN wheeled out 72,261.7 mw of electricity in four weeks – official

The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) Tuesday said it wheeled out 72,261.7 megawatts of electricity in the first four weeks of August.

The daily statistics of TCN operations from Nigerian Electricity System Operator (SO), a section of the TCN, indicated that 34,853.3 megawatts were generated between August 1 and Aug 12.

This was against the 37,408.4 megawatts generated between Aug. 13 and Aug.  23.

The statistics indicated that power generation dropped by 2,555 megawatts between the two periods.

Daily power generated from Aug. 1 to Aug. 12 were 2,617.9mw, 3,226.2mw, 3,411.3mw, 2,745.8mw, 2,951mw, 3,393.8mw, 3,292.8mw,3,301.7mw, 3,360.5mw, 3,425.6mw and 3,126.8mw, respectively

Daily power generated from Aug.13 to Aug. 23 were 3,316.1mw, 2,804.5mw, 3,435.5mw, 3,443mw, 3,443mw, 4,068.6mw, 3,450.8mw, 3,737.6mw, 3,136.9mw, 3,912.8mw and 3,361.9mw, respectively.

The power was wheeled to 11 distrbution companies

The TCN said that national peak demand forecast stood at 19,100.00mw, while 11,165.40mw was the installed available capacity, 7,139.60mw was the available capacity, 7,000 MW was the current transmission capacity and network operational capacity was 5,500.00mw.

The peak generation ever attained in Nigeria was 5,074.7mw, while the maximum energy ever attained stood at 109,372.01mwh.David Ige, a former Group Executive Director (Gas and Power) in NNPC, said that there was the need for prompt settlement of debts for the sector to operate optimally across the entire value chain

David Ige, a former Group Executive Director (Gas and Power) in NNPC, said that there was the need for prompt settlement of debts for the sector to operate optimally across the entire value chain

Ige, who is currently the Chief Executive Officer, GasInvest Ltd., said that currently about N1 trillion was owed across the entire value chain from gas production to distribution.

Ige said that the problem of liquidity was also affecting natural gas production and supply.

“It may interest you to know that in the country today, our installed capacity for gas production is about two billion Standard Cubic Feet (SCF) per day.

“If all this capacity is flowing, all these problems associated with power generation would have reduced significantly.

“From January 2016 till date, we have had an average production of 1.4bscuf of gas per day and in fact on a steady scale, it is 1.2bscuf per day.

“That means about 800 million scuf per day of installed capacity is not getting to the market, talk less of other challenges in the sector.

“We need to address these fundamental issues of not utilising the installed capacity to produce gas. About 300 billion scuf that is stranded is due to power sector not taking the gas,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Nigerian Electricity Management Services Agency (NEMSA) has reported that 82 employees of electricity distribution companies and TCN, as well as power consumers, lost their lives in various electricity-related accidents between January and July this year.

They were 14 employees of TCN and the Discos and 68 other victims who were classified as third party individuals.

The report also stated that there had been 67 accidents with fatalities so far, while there were 37 accidents with only injuries adding that 59 other persons were injured in the process.

The agency went further to state that 24 people among the injured persons were workers of both the Discos and the TCN, while 35 were third-party individuals.

The report said that Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC), Kano Electricity Distribution Company (KEDCO) and Port Harcourt Electricity Distribution Company (PHED) recorded the highest number of fatalities or deaths this year.

While 20 individuals lost their lives in locations covered by Abuja Disco, 11 persons died in each of the areas under the electricity supply and distribution management of Kano and Port Harcourt Discos.

Discos like Benin, Eko, Enugu, Ibadan, and Ikeja recorded seven, one, three, eight and two fatalities, respectively.

Jos Disco recorded 10 fatalities, while each of Kaduna and Yola Discos had situations that claimed four lives in their coverage areas.

The TCN lost one employee.