Four NDPHC plants generated no electricity in three months — NERC
CHIGOZIE AMADI
Four power plants owned by the Niger Delta Power Holding Company failed to generate electricity in the second quarter of 2024, a report by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission says.
The power plants, under the National Integrated Power Project, are Omotosho NIPP, Ihovbor NIPP, Alaoji NIPP, and Sapele GT NIPP.
According to the report, these power plants recorded zero Plant Availability Factor in the quarter.
The availability factor of a plant is measured as a ratio of the maximum rated output of the plant declared by the operator (available capacity) relative to the maximum rated output specified by the manufacturer (installed capacity).
It was said that each of the affected plants has an installed capacity of 500 megawatts but failed to generate power from April to June due to gas shortages. This means four plants of 2,000MW combined capacity could not deliver power in three months.
The NERC explained that in 2024/Q2, the average plant availability factor for all grid-connected plants was 32.30 per cent which shows that more than 67 per cent of the installed capacity in the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry was unavailable.
“Overall, only four plants had availability factors above 50 per cent with the Azura IPP plant recording the highest availability factor – 98.05 per cent,” the report stated.
It added, “On the other end of the spectrum, Omotosho NIPP, Ihovbor NIPP, Alaoji NIPP, and Sapele GT NIPP all recorded zero per cent PAF in 2024/Q2.”
It was explained that this is the second consecutive quarter where all four power plants; Alaoji NIPP, Ihovbor NIPP, Omotosho NIPP, and Sapele GT NIPP have recorded less than five per cent PAF due to gas issues.
Meanwhile, NERC said the management of the Niger Delta Power Holding Company is working with its gas supplier and other relevant stakeholders to implement measures to resolve the issues hindering gas supply to these power plants.
It was noted that the hydropower plants dropped in the period under review. Dadin Kowa (-47.80pp), Kainji (-17.34pp), Shiroro (-13.59pp), and Jebba (-5.46pp) recorded decreases in PAF in 2024/Q2 compared to 2024/Q1.
“The decrease in the PAF of the hydropower plants is consistent with the expected impact of seasonality on river flows. The capacities of hydropower plants are constrained by water availability from January to July every year,” the NERC disclosed.
The number of grid-connected plants increased by one to 28 as a result of the operationalisation of the Zungeru hydropower plant, which began evacuating power to the grid on April 29, the report disclosed.
For the quarter, the average available generation capacity of the grid-connected power plants was 4,395.77MW.
“In comparison to 2024/Q1, the average available generation capacity of the grid-connected power plants (excluding Zungeru) decreased by -5.28 (-224.29MW) from the 4,249.10MW recorded in 2024/Q1 to 4,024.81MW; this was driven by the decrease in the available capacity of 20 grid-connected power plants.
“The most significant increases in average available capacity were recorded in Egbin ST (Gas) (+52.92 per cent), Rivers IPP (+51.70 per cent), Geregu NIPP (+49.23 per cent), and Sapele ST (+30.47 per cent) power plants.
“Conversely, significant decreases in average available capacities during the period were recorded in Sapele GT NIPP (-98.64 per cent), Ihovbor NIPP (-97.64 per cent), Olorunsogo NIPP (-78.49 per cent), Dadin Kowa (-74.86 per cent), Afam IV – V (-56.30 per cent) and Geregu (- 33.24 per cent) power plants,” NERC stated.
It was disclosed that the cumulative average hourly generation from thermal plants also decreased by – 2.62 per cent, from 2,934.46MWh/h in 2024/Q2 relative to 3,013.56MWh/h in 2024/Q1) with 16 out of the 23 thermal plants recording decreases in generation.
Average hourly generation from the Olorunsogo NIPP, Afam IV – V, and Geregu power plants dropped to 14.54MWh/h, 16.91MWh/h, and 143.08MWh/h respectively in 2024/Q2, compared to 68.32MWh/h, 43.49MWh/h, and 225.59MWh/h generated in 2024/Q1, driven by gas constraints and mechanical faults.
It was learnt that thermal plants represented 73.02 per cent of the generation mix while hydro stood at 26.98 per cent.
The Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu said recently that the nation’s power generation has risen to 5,500MW, saying it would hit 6,00MW before the end of the year.
