The federal government has announced that some power generating plants in the country are performing below 30 per cent of their installed capacities after about one year the sector was privatised.
Chinedu Nebo, minister of power, explained that many power plants built to generate electricity were only able to utilise a fraction of their installed capacities due to shortfalls in the supply of gas.
He added that none of the six power plants that were privatised is functioning at 70 per cent of installed capacity.
“Oil thieves are breaking up gas pipelines in the hopes of finding oil to steal. Political enemies are hoping to reduce power supply in one area or the other in an effort to sabotage opponents. Even when the gas infrastructure is free of sabotage, obtaining the gas needed is a problem because of the historically low price for gas in the domestic market,” he said.
The Minister added that the low crude oil price made investments in the supply of gas to the domestic gas market unattractive for gas producers.
To address the menace, the minister noted that the government had entered into agreements with some international oil companies and local producers to make sure that they ramped up gas supply.
He added that the government is working to ensure that even the marginal gas fields are exploited in order to have the quantum of gas necessary to drive the power reform.
“We expect these changes to incentivise the negotiation and execution of more gas supply and purchase agreements between gas suppliers and power producers, resulting in noticeable improvements in the medium term,” he added.
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