Nigerian Power Generation: How It’s Done Over Time

Nigeria has two main power forms of power plants. There are the hydro-thermal type and the fossil fuel or thermal type.  The thermal type is also of two different types and they are the natural gas-fired type and the coal-fired type.

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These power plants are highly classified and they are owned by two organizations. The first organization having ownership of power plants can either be the Federal Government of Nigeria or the Niger Delta Power Holding Company.

The federal government of Nigeria has plans in place to get these power plants under its ownership privatized. The government believes that privatization will make the power plants run more efficiently.

The Niger Delta Power Holding Company (NDPHC) is however owned by the three tiers of government, which are the Federal, State and Local governments. The power plants under the ownership of Niger Delta Power Holding Company are part of the National Integrated Power Project (NIPP).

The third type of ownership of power plants in Nigeria belongs to state governments. This is recently included after the federal government approved that states can now operate their own power plants. The government also allows private organizations to possess their own power plants.

Individuals are also permitted by the government to build and operate power plants.  This way, it will be easier to attain the desired improvement in power generation. The power stations to be owned and operated by States, private bodies and individuals are classified under Independent Power Producer (IPP).

Generation and demand

The total nameplate or installed power capacity in Nigeria as of December 22013 was 6,953 MW.  However, only 4,598 MW of the lot was available for distribution.  The actual average generation was 3,800 MW.

 

In December 2014, on the other hand, the total installed capacity for power generation increased to 7,445 MW. However, capacity available for distribution was 4,949 MW.  The actual average generation was however not up to 3,900 MW.

The president set up a special body to oversee power generation and the name of the body was the Presidential Task Force on Power. The body had a focus to have generated up to 12,800 MW by April 2015.

The natural gas power plants in Nigeria are up to 23 already. Also, there are plans underway to add one more, which is to be built in Benin City. Name of the proposed natural gas power plant is Azura Thermal Power Station. It is proposed to be a Simple cycle gas turbine. Its capacity is 450 MW. The power station is still in development, and there is no specific date attached yet.

Nigeria plans to build one coal power station and it is to be located at Itobe in Kogi State. Its name is Itobe Power Plant and it can generate up to 1200 MW of electricity.  The first phase is expected to be completed by 2018 and this first phase is expected to deliver up to 600 MW.

Nigeria has four hydroelectric power plants located Kainji, Jebba, Shiroro and Zamfara. Four more hydroelectric power stations are under construction at Kano, Zamfara, Kiri and Mambilla in Taraba State.

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