With only 29 days to the December 31 target date for electricity generation in the country to hit 6,000 megawatts, THE PUNCH can authoritatively reveal that the Power Holding Company of Nigeria is focussing on 4,000MW.

Findings reveal that the authorities of the PHCN decided on the 4,000MW when it realised that there would not be enough gas for it to get near the 6,000MW target.

A very top official of the PHCN disclosed to our correspondent on Wednesday that the electricity company was doing everything possible to add 838MW to its current generating level by December 31.

Generation had risen to 3,000MW in November but it dramatically dropped to 2,627MW on Tuesday due to gas shortage.

But should gas supply increase, the PHCN projects that it will have additional 200MW from Okpai, 200MW from Delta IV, 138MW from Afam V and 300MW from Geregu power stations before December 31.

Our source said that those figures would take power generation to about 3,838MW by December ending.

”We hope that if we can achieve 4,000MW by the end of December, power supply will improve substantially. The situation with gas supply means that we may not get the required gas by December,” the source said.

He added, “Definitely, if we can do close to that figure, the public will be happy and power supply will improve substantially.

“Since the beginning of the year, the gas-run power stations have been battling with the problem of inadequate or no gas supply, and the situation has just slightly improved based on the amnesty granted militants by the Federal Government.”

It was gathered that the PHCN is hoping to get more gas from the Nigerian Gas Company in the coming weeks before December 31.

“Shell Petroleum Development Company Limited has said it will increase gas supply to NGC soon and Chevron is also expected to resume supply of gas before December ending, so we hope that the additional gas would be enough to generate the 838MW,” the source added.

Our correspondent also gathered on Tuesday morning that the Lagos Thermal Station, Egbin and AES were limited to generating 500MW, down from 600MW because the SPDC was carrying out repairs on its gas supply lines.

Jebba hydro power station generated 430MW, Kainji did 409MW and Shiroro did 299MW.

Delta power station supplied 244MW; Afam IV, 49MW; Shell‘s Afam VI, 441MW; Okpai power plant, 218MW; Omotosho power station, 35.5MW; and Omoku, 31.4MW.

The Olorunsogo and Sapele power stations generated nothing due to lack of gas.

The Minister of Power, Dr. Lanre Babalola, had said the government and privately-owned power stations would need 1. 2 billion standard cubic feet of gas per day to achieve the 6,000MW target.

But our correspondents learnt that the PHCN-run thermal stations still have a gas supply shortfall of over 500 million standard cubic feet of gas per day, few weeks to the expiration of the deadline.

The repair of the Escravos/Lagos Pipeline whose completion is expected to boost gas supply to the power stations in the western part of the country would not be achieved until sometimes this month.

Even if the repair is completed, the gas expected to be supplied by CNL to add to SPDC’s present supply will still be unable to fill the gas supply gap by December ending.

Expected 60 million LCFD gas supply from Ponocean may also not materialise this year, as the company is said to be looking at the first quarter of 2010 to inaugurate its gas plant.

At present, SPDC has been able to boost gas supply to power stations and this has reflected in slight improvement in power generation at the thermal stations.

But it was learnt that the 185 million standard cubic feet of gas per day expected from CNL by December will just be enough to generate an additional 700MW.

Managing Director, PHCN, Mr. Hussein Labo, however told our correspondent through the telephone on Wednesday that the company was still sure that the 6,000MW target would be achieved by December ending.

“The NGC is working hard to get us more gas and I am sure that the target will be met,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Nigerian Society of Engineers has called for the deregulation of the power sector as part of efforts to boost power supply in the country.

It said at its 42nd Annual General Meeting in Abuja on Wednesday that government’s inability to provide reliable electricity in the country had thrown the economy into chaos.

The NSE noted that given the uncertainty surrounding government’s ability to meet the 6,000MW target before December 31, an urgent stakeholders’ summit on power was necessary in order to find an immediate solution to the crisis in the sector.

The society’s President, Mr. Kashim Ali, said, “ It is just a few days before the end of December, the target date that the Federal Government has set for the production of 6,000MW. It is clear that power supply has not improved and nobody is in the know as to the actualisation of the 6,000MW.

“This calls for serious concern in view of the fact that no nation can develop without adequate power supply.

Our country has become dumping sites for all kinds of goods from Asia, as it has become cheaper to import than to produce.

“As a result, more companies are closing down and more people are losing their jobs. As a professional body, we are concerned because with the right decisions and commitment, we can generate and distribute power to lift the economy if we look inward.”

The NSE explained that though deregulation of the power sector might lead to increase in tariff, Nigerians would be willing to pay a little more if electricity supply became constant.

It said “Nigerians are paying about N20 per unit for generating their own electricity. Even with the current tariff structure, they are still suffering.

“It is better to pay a little higher and have uninterrupted power supply than to continue the way we are going.

“We have enough gas, coal solar and wind power that we can exploit. The earlier the sector is deregulated, the better for all of us.”

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