How Gas Pipeline Fire Caused Nigerian Power Grid Shut Down | The Precision

The ministry of power said on Wednesday that Nigeria’s electricity grid has been shut down by a
fire on a gas pipeline, ,
underscoring the instability of the country’s creaking power
infrastructure. 

Nigeria’s dilapidated power grid is often blamed
for hobbling growth in Africa’s largest economy, despite efforts to
improve it through privatisation. 

Many
businesses and households have their own power generators, often costly
and run on fuel, as a backup for the country’s frequent blackouts. 

Gas
supply to several power stations was cut off because of the fire on the
Escravos Lagos Pipeline System near Okada in the southern state of Edo,
the ministry said. 

“The sudden loss of
generation due to interruption in gas supply from these stations caused
the national transmission grid to trip off around 20:20 on 2nd January,”
it said in a statement. 

Most of Nigeria’s power generation is from thermal power stations that use gas, according to the ministry. 

Nigeria’s
state oil firm, which owns and operates the gas pipelines, is working
to restore gas supply on the affected pipelines, the statement said. 

“Once
the national grid is restored, output from the hydroelectric power
stations and all other unaffected gas-fired thermal power stations will
be increased to the extent possible to minimise the impact of loss of
generation from the affected power stations,” the statement said. (Reuters)