The Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) has said that it will shut down five power stations in the country from tomorrow as Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) shuts down five gas stations for maintenance.
A statement from PHCN General Manager, Public Affairs, Mrs. Efuru Igbo, said PHCN has received a notice from the Nigeria Gas Company Limited (NGC) of the planned shutdown of Utorogu and Ughelli East Gas Plants, Oben, Sapele and Ogharefe gas plants of Saplet and Pan Ocean.
With the shutdown, Nigeria will lose about 1,400 megawatts of electricity. Few days to Nigeria's 51st Independence Anniversary, the federal government announced that power generation in the country has increased to 4005 megawatts. The generation will now drop to about 2,605 megawatts of electricity for the maintenance period.
The statement said that the maintenance will last for a period of seven days commencing from Tuesday, 11 October, 2011.
It said that the maintenance according to NGC will lead to complete shutdown of Geregu, Sapele, Ughelli, Omotosho and Olorunsogo power stations throughout the duration of the exercise, thus resulting in a cut back in generation of over 1400MW.
"This loss of generation will entail minimal load shedding in many parts of the country. We therefore appeal to our valued customers and other stakeholders for understanding and support, while assuring that power supply situation will considerably improve once gas supply is restored to these stations," the statement said.
