Power Sector And Other Related News Stories For Thursday 24th November 2022
Abuja DisCo Decries Incessant Assaults, Attacks on Staff
The Management of Abuja Electricity Distribution Plc (AEDC) has decried the incessant incident of assaults and attacks of its staff by customers.
The company’s Chief Marketing Officer, Donald Etim, said on Tuesday this is becoming a serious concern to the management as it was affecting the smooth discharge of its mandate.
Etim said the company was speaking out following the rising incidents of assaults and attacks on its staff while performing their lawful duties.
He disclosed that at least four incidents were reported in different locations within the last two weeks.
“We value our staff, and we are concerned about their utmost safety, especially when they are carrying out their lawful duties. We will go to the full extent of the law to ensure that any assailant is brought to justice,” Etim said.
He said one of such attackers, one Moses Malam who assaulted an AEDC Staff with a machete in Lifecamp District, has been charged to court for the offence.
Also, he said the Nigerian Police was currently investigating other assault cases against one Rasheed Layinde of Chika village, Millicent Daniel and another assailant in
Lugbe District. The AEDC spokesperson further expressed his management’s concerns over these unlawful acts, adding: “All the attacks left the AEDC Staff involved with severe bodily injuries”.
https://mediatracnet.com/abuja-disco-decries-incessant-assaults-attacks-on-staff/
TCN Blames GenCos, DisCos for Grid Collapses
The electricity Transmission Company of Nigeria, TCN, has said that lack of capacity in the electricity Generation Companies, GENCOs, and the Distribution Companies, DISCOs, is the main reason for the incessant collapses in the national grid.
The country’s power grid has collapsed about seven times this year, with the last collapse on September 26.
At the backdrop of this the chairman, Technical and Monitoring Committee of TCN governing board, Mr. Nsima Ekere, stated that TCN was in the process of installing a supervisory control and data acquisition, SCADA system which would address the inconsistency leading to grid collapse.
Ekere made this known at the inspection of TCN warehouse and some key substations by the committee board members of TCN in Lagos.
According to him, “Grid collapse and network reliability is not TCN’s fault but majorly from the GENCOs and DISCOs as they take more power and sometimes less, which ultimately impacts negatively on the national grid.
“The average generation in the country is from 3,000mw to 4,000mw which is less than 40 percent of the present capacity, but with the transmission expansion projects ongoing, in the next two or three years the capacity would be doubled.
https://www.vanguardngr.com/2022/11/poor-electricity-tcn-blames-gencos-discos-for-grid-collapses/
TCN Seeks GenCos, DisCos Support on Grid Collapse
The Transmission Company of Nigeria has blamed the power generation and distribution companies for the repeated collapse of the national electricity grid.
It, therefore, asked the Gencos and Discos to “up their games” in the delivery of electricity.
The Chairman, Technical and Monitoring Committee and member of the governing board of TCN, Nsima Ekere, disclosed this to The PUNCH on the side-lines of two-day official visit and inspection of the TCN store at Ojo and other transmission stations in Lagos by the board.
He said the Discos and Gencos should make adequate investments in their networks and infrastructures for Nigerians to enjoy some level of power stability.
He said TCN was not responsible for poor services to electricity consumers, as the faults should be traced to the generating and utility firms.
Ekere advised both electricity distribution companies and generation companies to improve on their capacities to distribute and generate power.
He said, “When this board came on stream, we were concerned about the issue of grid collapse. Then we set up a committee to look into the issue and we saw that it is a complex issue.
https://punchng.com/tcn-seeks-gencos-discos-support-on-grid-collapse/
Power Minister Seeks Understanding Over Electricity Supply
The Federal Government has urged Nigerians to exercise patience over the state of electricity supply in the country, stressing that time is required for ongoing projects to translate to improvement in power supply across homes and industries.
Minister of Power, Abubakar Aliyu, while speaking in Abuja, said insecurity, port-related challenges and flooding were affecting the completion of some ongoing electricity projects in the country.
Aliyu, who stated this while inspecting some projects around the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), disclosed that the $2.3 billion Siemens-Nigeria power deal remained on track.
Aliyu disclosed that while some transformers from the Siemens deal are being cleared from the port and would be installed in the coming days, a team of Nigerian engineers would be traveling abroad in the next 17 days for factory testing of some of the next transformers that would be shipped to Nigeria.
He disclosed that so far, Nigeria has conducted factory acceptance tests in Germany, France and Italy, adding that while some of those transformers are on the sea, there are clearance issues as well as flooding which affected dispatch to necessary locations. He said three of the mobile substations have been tested and would arrive in January next year.
https://guardian.ng/business-services/power-minister-seeks-understanding-over-electricity-supply/
Governors Reject Sale of 10 Power Plants
Governor’s, under the auspices of Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF), have gone to court to stop the privatisation of some power plants.
In a communique, the NGF said its lawyers have taken steps to prevent the Federal Government from selling 10 National Integrated Power Projects (NIPPs).
The communiqué was issued yesterday at the end of the teleconference held on Tuesday by the governors. It was signed by NGF Chairman and Sokoto State Governor Aminu Tambuwal.
The governors also insisted that the dispute over the planned payment of $418 million Paris Club refund fee by the Federal Government to some consultants be left for the court to resolve.
The NIPPs in contention were not listed by the governors.
But in April 2021, the National Council on Privatisation (NCP) approved adoption of a fast-track strategy for the privatisation of five power plants.
They are Geregu, Omotosho, Ihovbor, Olorunsogo and Calabar power plants.
The government-run Niger Delta Power Holding Company (NDPHC) – a power generation and distribution company, oversees the implementation of the NIPPs.
https://thenationonlineng.net/electricity-crisis-governors-reject-sale-of-10-power-plants/
Federal Govt Sues Abuja Property Developer for N11m Electricity Theft
Federal government has dragged a property developer, Mr Cecil Ezem Osakwe, before Justice Binta Murtala-Nyako of the Federal High Court sitting in Abuja over alleged N11m electricity theft.
In the charge, Osakwe was said to have tampered with electricity meters which resulted in the loss of N11m revenue to the federal government.
Osakwe was said to have been caught by the officials of Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC) allegedly stealing electricity at various properties including his residence, 11, Aso Drive, Abuja.
According to the officials of the power company, the scale of electricity theft by Osakwe at a number of other properties he manages is still under investigation.
Apart from the fresh charge of theft filed against him, Osakwe, the managing director of Abeh Signature Limited, is also facing a criminal charge of N130 million fraud before a High Court of Justice of the Federal Capital Territory.
https://leadership.ng/federal-govt-sues-abuja-property-developer-for-n11m-electricity-theft/
MDAs’ Failure to Pay Electricity Bill Is Part Of Reasons FG Pays Electricity Subsidies – World Bank
The World Bank said the failure of many federal, state, and local government ministries, departments, and agencies (MDAs) to pay their electricity bills is one of the reasons why the government pays electricity subsidies.
This was disclosed in the World Bank’s Nigeria Public Finance Review report released recently and seen by Nairametrics.
The report noted that the Federal Government of Nigeria has been financing electricity costs through public subsidy since the privatisation of the sector. It added that the subsidy is one of the reasons the power sector has been underperforming.
The World Bank report further noted that the transition from a publicly owned to a large privately owned power sector has not brought the expected performance and service quality outcomes. Part of the report said:
“As the power sector has been private since 2013, the federal government has financed below-cost electricity prices through a public subsidy. At the root of the problem was the poor performance of the power sector. The power sector’s aggregate technical, commercial, and collection (ATC&C) losses are extremely high, with distribution companies (DisCos) reporting an average loss of 50% in 2020, versus 26% allowed by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC)’s tariff policy.
Electricity Supply Was Restored to About 50% Of Consumers in Dnipropetrovsk Region.
Ukrinform reports this with reference of the Telegram channel of Valentyn Reznichenko, head of the Dnipropetrovsk Regional Military Administration.
“It was a busy night. All services worked and continue to work… Power engineers continue to restore power. Up to 50% of consumers in the region are with electricity now. However, the situation in the energy sector is difficult. Therefore, blackouts will be introduced everywhere in order to reduce the load on the network as much as possible,” Reznichenko wrote.
According to him, as a result of the rescue operations in Kryvyi Rih and the Pavlohrad district, almost 3,000 workers who remained in the mines due to the blackout of the enterprises were brought to the surface.
The region’s governor also informed that the invaders launched five heavy artillery strikes on the Marhanets community in the Nikopol district. “More than 30 projectiles were fired. People were not injured. Representatives of the State Emergency Service are examining the territory – they are finding out the details of the shelling,” Reznichenko noted.
