The power generation from the Jebba Hydro power station which collapsed completely yesterday at exactly 12.58p.m and lasted for up to about three hours has been restored back to normalcy
The Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, diclosed this on Thisday in Abuja.
Fashola, who did not disclose the current generation level, however, stated in Abuja that the collapse was induced by a sudden shutdown of the three turbines at the Jebba Hydro power station.
He said the turbines were quickly restarted and power generation then began to rise.
Data from the country’s System Operator showed that around 12.58p.m. yesterday, there was absolutely no power available for distribution across the country.
The System Operator hourly records indicated that Nigeria produced no single megawatt of electricity and the 11 electricity distribution companies (Discos) got none.
The System Operator’s report indicated that the 11 Discos got zero electricity load allocation during the period of the collapse, meaning that that no part of Nigeria got power supply from the national grid.
Power supply, according to Disco sources, was however restored by 3p.m., and of the 450MW that was due to Abuja Electricity Distribution Company, for instance, only about 50MW was given to it when the situation improved.
Abuja Disco before the collapse got an allocation of 257.97MW. At that time the national grid had about 2,243.2MW to distribute to the Discos.
Meanwhile, after years of prolonged controversies from its failure to respect and enforce the terms in the ‘ring-fencing’ agreement it reached in 2005 with Geometrics Aba Power Plant for distribution of electricity generated from the plant to Aba and Ariaria metropolis in Abia State, the federal government has finally retraced its steps.
Government is now negotiating a settlement between parties in the dispute, Geometrics Aba Power and Enugu Electricity Distribution Company (Disco).
Fashola, said yesterday in Abuja when both parties in the dispute put pen to papers to formalise the agreements they reached after their reported six months long out-of-court negotiation, that commonsense had finally prevailed against the long periods of contest for rights.
In 2005, the government reportedly concessioned Aba and Araiaria as the only security for Geometric to invest in the independent power project instead of the normal sovereign guarantee.
The same government however abandoned the concession agreement when in 2013 it unbundled from defunct Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) Enugu Disco and sold it including the concessioned units to Interstates Electrics, this subsequently sparked up the dispute.
Fashola explained at the meeting that the new development was momentous for Nigeria’s power sector. He described the decision of both parties to settle the dispute which was foisted on them by government’s decision as a win-win for the people of Aba and Nigeria.
According to him, the negotiation was first brokered by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo who then handed it over to the ministry of power to continue with.
He said apart from parties in the dispute, several individuals including former military Head of State, General Abdulsalami Abubakar and Permanent Secretary in the ministry, Mr. Louis Edozien played key roles in the negotiation and final outcome