Yemisi Izuora
Electricity consumers in the country reportedly experienced a sharp drop in supply during the fourth quarter of last year.
According to aggregated power poll results released by NOIPolls for the second half of 2016 (July to December 2016) covering the third quarter and fourth quarter revealed a decline in the power supply to Nigerian households particularly in the fourth quarter.
The report revealed that only an average of 37 percent reported improvement in power supply, which represented a significant 9-point decline when compared to the third quarter of 2016 which recorded 46 percent.
The poll based its findings on current results from power industry statistics obtained from the National Electric System Operation (SO) which showed that electricity generation improved step by step in the third and fourth quarter of the year across the country as power generation hovered above 4,000MW, contrary to around 2,500 to 3,000 megawatts in the second quarter.
Consumers, however, experienced the highest improvement in power supply in thirf quarter which was 46 percent which was due to the adequate water reserves in the nation’s water dams within the period.
It said the rainy season boosted power generation from the hydro generating plants particularly the Kainji, Shiroro and Jebba hydro plants which rely on water to generate electricity.
A view of the individual months covered during the period revealed a constant downward trend observed from the month of October to December 2016 and the month of December which accounted for the lowest, (27 percent) improvement in power supply in the second half of 2016.
Similarly, analysis of the monthly average cumulative hours of power supply experienced by households nationwide for the months of August and September 2016 each stood at 10.6 hours daily, representing the highest daily cumulative hours of power supply within the six-month period while the quarterly nationwide average daily cumulative power supply to households in third quarter of 2016 stood at 9.9 hours.
“It is pertinent to note that although these daily average hours of cumulative availability of power were not near an acceptable standard of 24 hours daily supply, it was perceived to be a little better than the results obtained in Q1, Q2 and Q4, 2016 with the quarterly nationwide average daily cumulative power supply of 8.8 hours, 6 hours and 9.6 hours respectively” the report said.
The report said that more still needs to be done to find a pragmatic solution to issues militating against power generation, transmission and distribution as anything short of this is capable of affecting development in the county.
It noted that the power insufficiency in the country was of great concern and called for immediate action to address this persistent problem.