Power outages: NNPC rules out constraints on its gas network, seeks wider review
The company distinguishes pipeline availability from actual deliveries to power plants, while the grid operator attributes reduced generation to gas and water constraints.
The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited has said constraints within its gas transportation network do not explain the recent decline in electricity generation, calling for a coordinated review of the factors affecting power supply.
In a statement dated November 6 and published on its website on November 7, NNPC said the network operated by its subsidiary, NNPC Gas Infrastructure Company Limited, remained available to support deliveries to generating stations.
The statement, signed by Chief Corporate Communications Officer Andy Odeh, followed the Nigerian Independent System Operator’s November 5 explanation linking reduced generation to limited gas availability and lower water inflows into hydroelectric reservoirs.
The clarification leaves unresolved whether individual power plants received sufficient gas and were ready to use it to generate electricity.
Pipeline availability and plant deliveries
NNPC said the operational condition of its transportation network should be assessed separately from gas production, commercial supply arrangements and actual deliveries to individual plants.
It also called for generating-unit readiness, maintenance schedules and the quantity of gas consumed by plants to be examined alongside supply records. The company supported a joint review involving suppliers, transporters, generators and NISO.
An available pipeline network therefore does not, by itself, establish that every generating station received enough fuel. NNPC’s clarification does not conclusively disprove gas constraints at particular plants.
NISO explains reduced allocations
NISO attributed the generation shortfall to constrained gas supplies at thermal power stations and reduced output from hydroelectric plants because of lower reservoir inflows.
According to the operator, the reduction left less electricity available for allocation to distribution companies, resulting in fewer supply hours and increased load shedding—the rationing of available electricity.
It said the impact varied across distribution networks according to available generation and their respective allocations.
Minister outlines phased return of generating units
Minister of Power Joseph Tegbe separately identified planned maintenance at Egbin Power Station, gas constraints affecting some thermal plants and sabotage of transmission infrastructure as factors behind the outages.
In a statement posted on Friday, November 6, according to contemporaneous reports, Tegbe said affected generating units would return to service in phases, with the first expected back within 48 to 72 hours.
He said damaged transmission lines had also restricted alternative supply routes, particularly in Lagos, while operators worked to restore generating units, improve gas supply and repair infrastructure.
That timetable concerned the expected return of initial generating units. It was not a commitment to restore normal supply to every affected customer within the same period.
A November 8 report indicated some recovery in transmission and electricity allocations to Lagos distributors. Those reported improvements do not establish that normal supply had returned across affected communities.
The sources reviewed do not independently establish how much generating capacity has returned or the extent of improvement in consumers’ daily supply hours. Plant-level gas delivery records, generation figures and distribution data would help reconcile the explanations and measure progress.
