The partial cessation in the disruption of oil and gas installations by vandals and the rise in water levels for hydroelectric plants have resulted in a steady increase in electricity generation in the last one month, according to operational reports from the System Operator.
Data obtained from the operator showed that between July 1 and August 3, the country’s power generation revolved around 3,000 megawatts, up from about 2,000MW on the average in May and June.
On July 1 and August 3, power generation stood at 3,031.7MW and 3,213MW respectively. It peaked at 3,322.9MW on August 7, moving up from the lowest of 1,986.1MW that was recorded on June 25 this year.
Nigeria’s power generation had hit an all-time high of 5,074.7MW on February 2, 2016, but this was not sustained as the vandalism of pipelines, particularly in the Niger Delta region, disrupted the supply of gas to the generating plants, and forced down electricity generation across the country.
Industry officials told our correspondent in Abuja on Wednesday that the marginal rise in generation was due to contributions from the hydroelectric plants as well as the partial cessation of attacks on critical oil and gas facilities by the militants as a result of the ongoing negotiations between them and the Federal Government.
Statistics also confirmed that the steady generation of about 3,000MW was due to contributions from the hydropower plants, as no quantum of electricity was lost by the plants due to water management constraints for the review period.
