Power Outages: DPR, NERC Plan New Strategy To Address Gas-Fired Plants

The Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR), Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), Nigerian Gas Company and Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading (NBET) Plc and other stakeholders have set out new plans to address the perennial challenges facing gas-fired power plants in the country.

Nigeria has over 203 trillion cubic feet of gas, most power plants relying on gas are faced with a shortage, as bottlenecks continue to cause power outages as revealed by the Ministry of Power.

The Minister of Power, Sale Mamman, had last week tendered a public apology over the worsening supply in the country, blaming the development on gas-related challenges, which rendered about six gas power plants idle.

Speaking, yesterday, in Abuja at a meeting, which brought together stakeholders in the gas space, particularly those in the power sector, Director of DPR, Sarki Auwalu, said the challenges facing the value chain have been identified and would be addressed with immediate effects.

Auwalu said the concerns of the electricity generation companies (DisCos), which continue to impede gas availability, were genuine and needed urgent attention, stressing that the Nigerian Gas Transportation Network Code (NGTNC), launched last year, is being tweaked to address inherent issues.

Auwalu, who noted that the Federal Government was working to ensure a level playing field in the sector, noted that the agency had also factored in the need to address the challenges facing the explorers and producers of gas.