2,859 MEGAWATTS UN-UTILISED IN NATIONS ELECTRICITY SUPPLY

Dr. Sam Amadi, Chairman, National Electricity Regulatory Commission, NERC has said the nation’s deteriorating power supply is to be blamed on the capacity constraints of the generating companies, GENCOs, resulting from under-capacity utilisation. About 2,859 megawatts are unutilised due to gas shortage as at December 3^rd.  His pronouncement came as the NOI Polls, an indigenous opinion research firm working in partnership with The Gallup Poll (USA), reported that Nigeria’s electricity supply worsened in November. This is a further confirmation that since the handover of generating and distribution companies, DISCOs, to new investors, no new value had been added to the assets of the defunct Power Holding Company of Nigeria, PHCN. Instead, blackout has persisted in the country. Amadi explained that there were capacity constraints with regard to the output of the generating companies, which may have affected the ability of the distribution companies to function properly. He also said that contracts for the expansion of the transmission grid would soon be ready.