Electricity generation reached 4,900 megawatts (mw) on October 31, 2017 being the highest peak generation in 19 months, according to the Federal Ministry of Power.
On February 2, 2016 peak generation reached 5,072mw on the national grid.
A statement issued on Thursday by the Acting Director of Press (Power), Mrs Etore Thomas, said on the same October 31, the capability of the 28 Generation Companies (GenCos) comprising 78 generating units reached 7,343mw which was 351mw higher than the 6,992mw reached on May 29, 2015.
The GenCos have up to 13,281mw of Installed Capacity but cannot generate above the 7,343mw due to some faulty units. “Many of the generating units that make up this figure cannot generate power until the current owners undertake major overhauls,” the statement noted.
The GenCos are connected through electricity pylons managed by the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN). The ministry said transmission network capability has also risen to 6,700mw. It noted that 90 per cent of all the current generation capability of 7,343MW can be delivered to the 11 Distribution Companies (DisCos) if they are available.
“However, there are specific power stations that cannot generate at their maximum capability without overloading particular components of the national grid, especially 190mw Ibom Power and 676mw Olorunsogo National Integrated Power Projects (NIPP) power stations,” the statement noted.
Meanwhile the average generation as at October 31 was 4,038 megawatt hour per hour (mwh/h) which means over 4,000mw was delivered within the 24 hours of October 31 when a total of 96,907 mwh was produced with 4,944mw peak generation level, that operational data from the ministry indicated.
