Electricity distributors in Nigeria have less power to send to customers after gas and water constraints reduced grid generation, the Nigerian Independent System Operator (NISO) said Thursday, BusinessDay reported.
NISO said gas shortages have left some thermal plants unable to generate at full capacity. Reduced reservoir inflows have also weakened hydropower production, the operator said. The shortfall has cut allocations to distribution companies, or DisCos. NISO said customers in some areas are seeing less service and additional load shedding; the impact differs among regions based on generation levels and each distributor’s share.
BusinessDay reported that gas plants account for most of grid capacity, while hydropower supplies a smaller share and varies with river levels and rainfall. It said pipeline problems, limited fuel deliveries or payment disputes can disrupt gas supplies. Because Nigeria’s grid has little spare capacity, the outlet said, generation losses tend to reach consumers as scheduled or unscheduled outages.
Households and small businesses often use petrol or diesel generators or solar systems to cover outages, raising their costs, BusinessDay reported. It said unreliable electricity also increases operating expenses for manufacturers and small enterprises and adds pressure to household budgets. Consumers in areas where distributors receive smaller allocations can face longer blackouts, the outlet said.
NISO said it is working to widen the range of energy sources serving the grid. The operator said it will manage output from available generators and keep the network operating under current constraints, but gave no details on potential new sources or a timetable. It also did not say when generation would recover.
An earlier steep decline is documented in EconoTimes’ report on Nigeria’s grid generation: NISO dashboard data showed 476.70 megawatts at 8 a.m. ET (12:00 UTC) on Oct. 19, compared with about 3,840 megawatts at 2 a.m. ET (06:00 UTC).
