Posted by By Yakubu Lawal on
THE entire country was thrown into darkness yesterday following a systems collapse at the National Electric Power Authority (NEPA).
THE entire country was thrown into darkness yesterday following a systems collapse at the National Electric Power Authority (NEPA).
Sources told The Guardian yesterday that the entire power system went down at about 10 a.m. yesterday following demand pressure on the existing facilities.
Though power was restored to Abuja and its environs before 1.00 p.m., most states of the federation suffered the blackout up till late evening yesterday.
NEPA officials who spoke with The Guardian said Lagos State, the commercial nerve-centre of the country, was most hit as NEPA engineers were still battling to restore supply as at press time.
"You see, we have system collapse since morning. It is only Abuja that has light now and you know people in Lagos - because of the demand - are hard-hit by the development," a source said.
According to an engineer with the authority, NEPA has been experiencing low gas supply from the Nigerian Gas Company (NGC) and that has affected generation level seriously, adding that the little power being generated is under heavy demand pressure.
Sources at the corporate headquarters of the authority in Abuja who spoke with The Guardian on condition of anonymity said though there was system collapse about 9.30 a.m. yesterday, light was restored before noon.
"As I speak with you now, I am charging my phone, so we have light in Abuja. But what I cannot say is whether it has been restored to other states of the federation," one of the sources said.
The Guardian sources noted that all the top management staff of the authority went all out to rectify the system collapse.
The sources stated that the authority has been receiving calls from all parts of the country on the situation, which virtually crippled administrative, commercial and industrial activities nationwide.
The Guardian gathered that the problem at the hydro-power stations, which is largely on low water level, did not help matters.
Last month, NEPA's generation level came down to 1,000 mega watts (MW) from 3,300 MW.
The authority blamed NGC for the problem as the company was said to have suspended gas supply to the Lagos Thermal Station in Egbin near Ikorodu.
It was also gathered that, NGC had insisted that NEPA should raise the amount currently paid for gas from N15 per 1000 standard cubic feet (scf) to N70 if it wishes to enjoy regular supply for generation activities.
The private industrial establishments who take gas from NGC pay between N140 and N142 per 1,000 (scf) gas.
But NEPA has consistently stated that the tariff it is paying for gas is contained in the sales and purchase agreement signed with NGC, which NEPA insisted has not been reviewed.
NEPA also insists that the current tariff being paid by its customers does not give room to pay what NGC was asking for.
National installed generation capacity is over 5,000 MW but what the authority could actually generate before the system collapse was 3,300 MW.
The peak national demand level has been estimated at 3,500 MW.`