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From David Onwuchekwa, Nnewi
The FirstPower Electricity Distribution Company Limited (FPEDL) has clarified the recent sharp drop in electricity supply being experienced across communities in Anambra State. The company described it as a result of nationwide generation challenges that hit and affected the entire Nigerian power sector, rather than an operational failure by the distribution company.
The clarification was contained in a statement issued to newsmen by the company’s Head of Communications, Izunna Okafor, in which he explained that electricity distribution companies operate only at the final stage of the electricity value chain and do not generate power or determine how much electricity is transmitted to any state.
Okafor detailed how Nigeria’s electricity system functions through three major segments — generation, transmission and distribution, emphasising that electricity is produced by Generation Companies (GenCos), transmitted nationwide through infrastructure managed by the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), and finally distributed to consumers by distribution companies, such as FirstPower.
According to him, the electricity distributed in Anambra is generated elsewhere in the country and transmitted through the national grid before reaching the interface stations that supply the state.
Consequently, he explained that whenever national electricity generation declines, the amount allocated to every distribution company across Nigeria automatically drops.
Relating the process to the situation on ground, he revealed that Nigeria has recently been experiencing a major reduction in electricity generation due to a severe shortage of natural gas supply to thermal power plants, which produce the bulk of electricity on Nigeria’s national grid.
The situation, he explained, was worsened following the disruption caused by an explosion on the Escravos-Lagos gas pipeline in December last year, an incident that affected the operations of several gas-fired power plants.
