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APRIL 2, 2007 VOL. 20. NO 25

One Week, Many Troubles

**PHCN Meter**

The recent explosion at Egbin Power Station further puts doubt on the Federal Government’s promise to boost power generation to 3,000mw in a forthnight
By Oji Odu and Eugenia Okpara, Owerri
When former Power and Steel Minister, Liyel
Imoke, said last year that the nation should not expect steady electricity supply until the year 2056 unless the Federal Government was ready to pump into the sector another $10 billion, many had called for his head, declaring him incompetent for the post. But with the persistent power outage in the country and indications that there are no solutions in sight, the former minister’s words easily comes to mind.
Last Sunday, March 18, 2007, an explosion at the Egbin Power Station near Lagos, which generates about 1,320 of the nation’s 3,000megawatts operational capacity further dimmed the situation. This is coming barely a week after the power station was shut down in order to carry out routine maintenance works (pigging) of the pipelines.
The explosion not only paralysed the plant with its meagre 150 MW addition to the national grid, it crippled the power generation at AES, a Lagos State Power plant that generates 270 MW to the grid.
A source at the power station which craved anonymity said, “a current transformer exploded on Sunday night... the unit is responsible for evacuating generated power to the national grid.” This invariably means that all is at a standstill now at the power station, as the Federal Government’s plan to restore power generation to 3,000mw in the next two weeks has come into serious jeopardy.
Penultimate week, Energy Minister, Dr. Edward Daukoru, had said that the Federal Government would recover 800mw from the shut down station within the next two weeks.
Daukoru: “In two weeks time, we hope to restore some 700 to 800mw and the national level of 3,000mw should then be satisfied.”
Egbin Power Station was shut down earlier on Sunday, March 11, 2007 due to the pigging (maintenance) of the gas pipelines as they were being cleared of the condensate which had caused partial blockage.
A statement by the Power Holding Company of Nigeria said: “At a meeting of stakeholders in Abuja on Tuesday, March 13, 2007, PHCN confirmed that the on-going maintenance (pigging) by the Nigeria Gas Company (NGC) of the gas pipeline supplying Egbin was necessitated by the need to clear the blockage of the pipeline of condensate.”
The NGC had in an earlier statement said that the vandalisation of the Escravos gas pipeline and the presence of gas condensate were responsible for the low energy turnout.
“The gas supply is still from associated wells, meaning it still has condensate. The NGC promised to supply dried gas by the end of the week,” a reliable source from the company had revealed.
Joseph Makoju, Special Adviser to the President on Power while raising hopes of an improvement in power generation berated past administrations for the deplorable energy crises in the country. He said that if not for the investment and commitment of the present administration, the nation would have been in complete darkness by now due to the shut-down of the Egbin Power Station. He stated that work had resumed on the vandalised pipelines which he hoped would be completed within the next six to eight weeks.
Daukoru on his part while answering questions on the energy situation in Nigeria after the 144th meeting of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) in Vienna, Austria said that the pigging was wrongly timed as it should have been done when the dams are full – which is when they (hydro dams) can take over the problem.
The minister explained that debris had clogged the pipelines to the point of hardly allowing any gas to pass through them and that there was nothing more to do than to undertake the clean-up exercise out of season.
Daukoru: “It had become a distress situation and so the pigging had to be initiated out of season. Along the line, there is provision for bypass and we were to have gotten to the nearest bypass point from where they can drain off the liquid to allow gas to flow through.
“Ideally, they should pig the entire line. But because of the SOS situation – they had to get to the nearest bypass point and that should have happened by the close of work yesterday (Monday, March 19, 2007).
“I expect that in the next day or two, gas should start getting to Egbin. In a full week’s time, we hope to restore Egbin to about 700mw – 800mw and reach national comfort level of 3,000 mw.”
On the recent explosion at Egbin, Makoju confirmed that the plant was shut on Sunday, but said that the situation had been restored. “We had problems at the station on Sunday, but as I am talking to you, it had been restored,” he said.
According to The Source’s investigations, however, the management of PHCN, Ikeja Distribution zone has cried out over continuous harassment of its staff and damage of equipment in many parts of the Lagos metropolis.
In a press statement issued and signed by the Principal Manager, Public Affairs of the zone, Pekun Adejanu, the acting Executive Officer, Rotimi Onanuga, as engineer, condemned the aggressive attitude of some members of the public and the threat to the lives of staff and damage of PHCN equipment because of the power outage.
He cited the case of Ojota residents who stormed PHCN’s injection sub-station in the area and damaged some equipment as well as threatened the lives of staff on duty. They are also known to have placed sign-posts within Ojota urging residents not to pay electricity bills.
“We have also equally experienced protests and threats from communities in Shomolu, Abule-Egba, and Oshodi, among others," he said. The PHCN while appealing to its customers for calm due to the, sustained outages promised that power generation and supply would soon improve. Onanuga: “We recently commissioned Gereru Power station with one unit of 138mw service, while two units are to follow soon for it to get full capacity of 414mw by April 2007.”
As a way out of the problem, the Federal Government was recently reminded that the present economic reforms will not achieve its laudable goals unless PHCN is privatised even as the Business Manger of the Owerri Business Unit, Thomas C. Ilokah, noted that privatisation would ensure the provision of tools for efficient discharge of their duties.
Ilokah, who stated this in reaction to a customer’s anger that PHCN has held the development of the nation for over 40 years and thus suggested at a customers’ forum organised by the Owerri Business Unit that the only way out of the continuing excuses and low performance of PHCN is privatisation of the establishment, appealed for understanding.
Ilokah: “Our services may not be totally satisfactory for now but it is not always the fault of the workers as vandals have not made it easy for us. The constant activities of vandals have seriously affected energy supply. It is also on record that for a long time no new power station was built. I am supportive of the current agitation for the privatisation of PHCN. The only provison I would like to add is for proper provision of the necessary tools for the workers to discharge their duties”.
The Owerri Business Unit manager disclosed that the present downturn in power generation was due to the vandalised gas pipelines across the Niger Delta region and the consequent shutting down of the thermal power stations at Egbin, Delta, Okpai and Afam.
He explained that the current low shedding of power experienced by customers on Imo State is due to low power allocation and the loss of a 60 MVA transformer at Egbu Transmission Station, coupled with the vandalisation of 132.33 and 11 KV networks.
His words: “The Owerri Business Unit has come under very severe load shedding of power supply in recent times. It is not a deliberate act by the Business Unit to deprive our esteemed customers their right to constant light, rather it is due mainly to low power allocations and transformer limitations as a result of the loss of 60MVA power transformer at Egbu Transmission Station and the vandalising of our transmission lines of 132.33 and 11KV networks”.
The Business Manager further disclosed that distribution transformers have suffered oil drainages by vandals in various parts of Imo State, especially in the Owerri metropolis, contending that the daily load demand for Owerri Business Unit is conservatively put at 150MV, but only about 30MV and below is allocated daily to Owerri.
Members of the Organised Private Sector apparently pissed off by the recurring excuses by PHCN for the blackout in the industrial estate compelled the chairman, Owerri Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture (OCCIMA), Chief Okey Ikoro, to tell the management of PHCN that he could not understand why the company cannot prepare a proper schedule if the establishment is load-shedding to accommodate the estate.
Ikoro: “It is quite unfortunate that the management of Power Holding Company of Nigeria did not put the industrial estate in their schedule of distributing the available power bearing in mind the importance the present administration attaches to the manufacturing sector. I am shocked to hear that the projects embarked by PHCN to improve the power situation in the state are nine odd months behind schedule and nobody appears to be worried about this development”.
Lamenting the loss of the 60MVA which is very vital for the distribution of power, the OCCIMA boss pointed out that even if the public power supply appreciates tremendously in Imo State today, the people would again face the arduous task of distributing it to where it is needed principally because of faulty transformers.
Meanwhile, staffers of the Owerri Business Unit of PHCN may be in for another bashing from soldiers as parts of Imo State have again been thrown into pitch darkness including the 34 Artillery Brigade, Obinze, due the vandalisation of the 33KV lines that export power to Onitsha Road injection sub-station.
According to the Manager, Public Affairs, Ositadinma Ugwuafor, the areas affected by the vandalism include Oguta and its environs, Egbeada, World Bank Housing Estate, 34 Field Artillery Brigade, Obinze, Owerri Industrial Layout, Umuguma, Commissioners’ Quarters and some parts of Orlu local government area.
Condemning the constant negative image which the activities of vandals have given to Imo State, he appealed to both the State and local governments to rise up against these vandals with a view to arresting the ugly incidents.