Babatunde Fashola, minister of Power, Works and Housing has raised hopes that the darkness that has enveloped much of Lagos over the fire incident at the Escravos pipeline in Ondo state which led to the shutting of 14 power plants is over.
Speaking at 23rd monthly power sector operations meeting held in Lafia, Nasarawa state yesterday, Fashola said the worst is over.
“I am happy to inform Nigerians that as at last night the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) informed us that repairs have been completed. We thank and commend them for their response.
“Thirdly, what remains is to test the lines and restore pressure and supply to the generation companies.
“One by one all the stakeholders from GenCos, TCN and DisCos will work to restore supply to the levels they were before the pipeline damage,” said Fashola.
On January 2, a fire incident was reported on the Nigerian Gas Processing and Transportation Company Ltd (NGPTC) Escravos Lagos Pipeline System near Okada, Edo State which affected 14 gas plants.
“Regrettably, after a sustained period of increasing production and distribution of power since September 2017 to date, the Nigerian Gas Processing and Transportation Company Ltd (NGPTC) has reported a fire incident on its Escravos Lagos Pipeline System near Okada, Edo State on Tuesday, 2nd January, 2018,” said a statement from the ministry of Power, Works and Housing.
As a result of the incident, a shutdown of the pipeline supplying gas to Egbin 1,320MW; Olorunsogo NIPP 676MW, Olorunsogo 338MW, Omotosho NIPP 450MW, Omotosho 338 MW and Paras 60MW power stations were affected.
The sudden loss of generation due to interruption in gas supply from these stations caused the national transmission grid to trip off around 20:20 on 2nd January 2018. The national transmission grid is owned and operated by the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN).
The minister used the occasion to thank stakeholders reaching milestones such as generated power which has gone up to 7000 MW in 2017 from 3,000 MW in May 2015 and transmission capacity raised to 6900MW in 2017 from about 5,000 MW in May 2015.
Other success recorded according to Fashola includes a peak distribution from DisCos now averaging 5,000 MW in 2017 from 2,690MW in 2015.
“The reason I thank you is because you are impacting the lives of Nigerians, you are saving them money and changing their lifestyles for the better.
“They tell me that their consumption of diesel and petrol to run generators for power has reduced and the hours they run their generators has gradually reduced. This is the result of incremental power and we must get more of it.
“They also tell me that they are now monitoring how they use power and are turning off appliances that are not needed.
“Although this is meant to save costs, it also conserves energy, reduces waste and supports incremental power,” said Fashola
