FG apologises to Nigerians over poor power supply, says eight plants down

The Federal Government has apologised to Nigerians over the current power outages and shortages in various parts of the country.

This was caused by the breakdown of some National Integrated Power Plants (NIPP) supplying electricity to the national grid, the Federal Ministry of Power explained in a statement on Thursday.

Aaron Artimas, who is the Special Adviser to the Minister on Media and Communications, listed the affected plants to include Sapele, Afam, Olonrunsogo, Omotosho, Ibom, Egbin, Alaoji, and Ihovbor.

He noted that while the Jebba Power Plant was shut down for annual maintenance, the Shiroro Power Plant has water management problems.

Seven other integrated power plants – Geregu, Sepele, Omotosho, Gbarain, Omuku, Paras, and Alaoji – are experiencing gas constraints.

Artimas decried that the condition of the plants has drastically affected power generation, leading to effectively minimising the national grid.

In a series of tweets on Thursday, the Minister of Power, Sale Mamman, regretted the unfortunate situation and offered his apology to all affected Nigerians for the inconveniences the power shortages have caused.

I sincerely regret the recent Power outages across the Nation and the difficulties it has brought with it, and wish to assure my Fellow Nigerians that everyone involved is working assiduously to restore the National grid to its previous historical levels and exceed that.

— Engr. Sale Mamman (@EngrSMamman) April 15, 2021

The problem is caused by the breakdown of some National Integrated Power Plants supplying electricity to the national grid. The plants are namely, Sapele, Afam, Olonrunsogo, Omotosho, Ibom, Egbin, Alaoji and Ihovbor. The Jebba Power Plant was shut down for annual maintenance.

— Engr. Sale Mamman (@EngrSMamman) April 15, 2021

Seven other integrated Power plants, namely Geregu, Sepele, Omotosho, Gbarain, Omuku, Paras and Alaoji are experiencing gas constraints while the Shiroro hydroelectric power plant has water management issues.

— Engr. Sale Mamman (@EngrSMamman) April 15, 2021

He, however, assured Nigerians that the ministry through the appropriate agencies was working assiduously to rectify the technical problems affecting the plants, as well as making effort to resolve the gas issues to the others.

The minister stated that the national grid would be restored to its previous historic distribution peak of about 5,600MW of electricity achieved earlier in 2021, so as to relieve Nigerians from the current harsh climatic conditions and restore full economic activities.