Gas Shortages Trigger Power Cuts in Aba Ring-fenced Zone

Electricity consumers in nine of the 17 local government areas (LGAs) in Abia State serviced by Aba Power, Nigeria’s 12th electricity distribution firm, will experience a significant reduction in electricity supply starting from Thursday.

The Brand and Communications senior manager with Aba Power, Edise Ekong, confirmed this and explained that the load shedding is proportionate to the reduction in the quantity of natural gas supplied to the 188megwatt Geometric Power Plant in the Osisioma Industrial Layout of Aba, by Heirs Energies.

Heirs, an indigenous oil and gas company, operates Oil Mining Licence (OML) 18 from where Geometric Power derives gas for its thermal plant.

The resultant load shedding in the Aba Ring-fence may last up to four days, explained Ekong, because of an unexpected change in the Heirs Energies scheduled maintenance programme for the year.

“If not for the efforts of the Heirs Energies technical team”, noted Cliff Eneh, a respected energy consultant in Lagos, “the maintenance schedule would last at least a week.

It is reliably gathered that Heirs Energies has been spending enormous time and resources on the maintenance of OML 18 because the facilities have aged, having been installed several decades ago.

Following the President Muhammadu Buhari government’s refusal to renew SPDC’s licence to operate OML 18, the company went to Court to challenge the decision.

The battle started at the Federal High Court, went through the Court of Appeal and ended at the Supreme Court.

During the years the legal challenge lasted, said Ejike, Shell was cautious in spending money on these facilities for fear that it could lose the case.

“The consequence of the situation is the constant requirement of huge financial resources and time of Heirs Energies to OML 18 to bring it to the appropriate level, resulting in significant downtime of natural gas supply to major customers like Geometric Power, Nigeria’s foremost integrated power group”, stated Ejike.

Both Eneh and Ejike assured electricity consumers in the Aba Ring-fence of more regular supply when the OML facilities are fully rehabilitated and modernized.

“At the pace the Heirs Energies team is working”, said Eneh, “it may be sooner”.