The Association of Power Generation Companies of Nigeria (APGC) has said out of the 13, 427 megawatts (Mw) installed electricity capacity, only 7,500mw was available. Yet, of this available capacity, only 3,500mw is being utilised.
The association noted there was a huge gap between what is being consumed and what we have, and, therefore, called for optimisation of what is on ground.
APGC’s Executive Secretary, Dr. Joy Ogaji, who spoke at an oil and gas forum in Lagos, said over 80 per cent of power generated in the country came through thermal power plants which use gas.
According to her, that makes the gas sector a critical stakeholder to those that generate the power.
“To that extent, there’s need to make that value chain or subsector very viable so that gas should be available for us to generate more power, she stated.”
She recalled the Vision 20: 2020 with its expectation of attaining 40,000mw of electricity.
“If we have a dream of getting to 40,000mw, should we not start by utilising all that’s available before we look for more. It’s good to make political statement but there’s need to focus on utilisation,’’ she said.
The issue of generating and distributing sufficient power to meet domestic, commercial and industrial requirements of electricity consumers in the country had been a major challenge facing successive administrations in the country.
The government’s efforts and plans to provide regular and efficient power supply from all indications so far has not yielded the anticipated result. The Federal Government’s ambition to place Nigeria among the world’s 20 biggest and strongest economies by 2020 is fast becoming illusory as epileptic electricity supply gradually constitutes the greatest encounter facing the country towards realising the vision.
Sadly, the first thing that strikes one’s mind while recalling the Vision 20:2020 project is electricity which is yet to improve significantly despite billions of naira pumped into the power sector. Regular power is critical to the realisation of the economic dream.
Ogaji agreed the gas to power value chain was a good prospect. But she noted that 26,000mw was the demand for Nigerians because the system operator of the Transition Company of Nigeria (TCN) currently demanded up to that but what is installed was 13, 000mw, arguing there’s already a disparity.
Source: The Nation
