FG attributes drop in power generation to gas shortage, pipeline vandalism

The Minister of Power, Prof. Chinedu Nebo, on Monday in Abuja said the drop in power generation was caused by gas shortage due to vandalism of gas pipelines.
Nebo made the development known at the opening of the Nigeria Power Forum Conference and Exhibition.
He said: “We still face many challenges.
“Gas supply is a very serious one and the current difficulty we have in generation dropping substantially in the past couple of days was as a result of gas limitation.
“We also have security issues bordering on vandalism of the sector’s gas pipelines and oil pipelines that are associated with gas and then transmission and distribution infrastructure.”
Nebo particularly stressed the need to develop the sector’s transmission capacity “and expand the wheeling strength, so that all power generated can be effectively transmitted”.
The minister also said there were huge challenges in transmission “because we need to be sure that we have more wheeling capacity than generation.
“So we need to beef up our generation capacity and transmission capacity”.
Nebo urged participants at the conference to fashion out a blue print on how to effectively fund and address the infrastructure deficit in the sector, especially the transmission chain.
He said: “With regards to transmission, I will plead with people who are knowledgeable in the power sector, investors and technical people to really look into what Nigeria needs now.
“I will like you to also look at issues around market solvency, funding model for transmission and so on.”
Nebo, however, expressed optimism that most of the challenges being experienced at the moment would soon be addressed with the cooperation and support of stakeholders in the sector.
He said the power sector reform was very much on course and assured Nigerians that it would ultimately lead to the economic growth and industrialisation of the nation.
The minister also said that the Federal Government was working round the clock to create the enabling environment for investors to thrive and urged more investors to key into the sector.
Earlier, Stephen Bourne, the Chairman of the forum, said the conference was designed to deliberate extensively on the way forward for Nigeria’s power sector.
Bourne said the country’s power sector had the potential of serving as catalyst for economic growth and creating jobs for the youth.
The conference was attended by officials from the Ministry of Power, Nigeria Electricity Regulatory Commission, Nigeria Bulk Electricity Trading Plc, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, as well as development partners.