Through the National Orientation Agency (NOA), the federal government has blamed the regular failure of the national grid, which causes nationwide blackouts, on the inability of electrical distribution companies (DisCos) to receive power generated.
In a circular titled “Why National Grid Collapses” issued on Wednesday, the NOA indicated that the country can generate approximately 13,000 MW of power and transmit approximately 8,000 MW, but due to DisCos’ poor infrastructure, this will also result in system collapse.
According to the agency, last month, DisCos rejected almost 1,400 MW of the 5,313MW generated by the producing companies.
“As of today, the TCN has an installed wheeling capacity of over 8,100MW and can comfortably wheel out 6,000MW of generated power, thanks to these facility upgrades courtesy of the Siemens project as well as TCN’s internal projects.
“On the generation side, with the addition of the 700MW Zungeru hydroelectric plant which came on stream in the second quarter of the year, Nigeria’s national grid now has an installed power generation capacity of about 13,610MW.
“Despite the 13,610MW generation capacity and the over 8,000MW transmission capacity, the total active distribution capacity of the 11 Discos in Nigeria is still hovering around 4,000MW.
“Just last month, on September 2nd, a peak generation in three years was achieved but out of the 5,313MW generated and wheeled out that day, the Discos rejected almost 1,400MW due to their systems’ fragility. These load rejections by Discos contribute to the collapse of the national grid,” the statement read in part.
