Staff of Port Harcourt Electricity Distribution (PHED) participating in their severance payment verification exercise at PHED’s Head Office along Moscow Road, Port Harcourt recently. Photo by Nwiueh Donatus Ken

The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) said it had repaired the sections of the sabotaged Escravos-Lagos Gas Pipeline Network leading to significant boost in electricity generation.
This is contained in a statement issued in Abuja on Sunday by the Acting General Manager, Group- Public Affairs Division of the Corporation, Dr Omar Ibrahim.
The statement said the repair had ended almost seven months of gas supply outage caused by hacking of the pipeline in Delta State.
It also said that this would enable the re-injection of almost 200 million cubic feet per day (mmcf/d) of gas into the grid, the equivalent of about 700 megawatts of electricity.
The statement said the corporation had also completed repair on the pulverised Trans-Forcados Pipeline last week which accounted for 230 mmcf/d of gas, the equivalent of 805 megawatts of electricity.
“With the latest repair of the ELPS, the NNPC within the last one week is injecting a 430 mmcf/d of gas into the grid which translates to 1,505 megawatts of electricity every day”, it said.
It also stated that an additional 60mmcfld is expected within three weeks when ongoing repair at the Utorogu gas plant was projected for completion.
It stressed that Nigerians should expect steady improvement in power availability through the course of the year.
The statement noted that despite short term challenges being experienced as a result of deliberate pipeline sabotage, the gas sector reform was ongoing and on course.
The statement said that all PHCN and NIPP power plants were now connected to gas pipeline infrastructure.
It stressed that additional 450km were under construction, of which 340km was due for completion by the end of 20 14 and the balance by 2016.
“The ongoing gas infrastructure work is the most extensive the nation has ever seen, with many new kilometres of pipeline being added every day.
“Gas production and supply have also grown to an all-time high of 1500mmcf/d from less than 500mmcf/d four years ago.
“A major part of this new supply is being directed to the power sector, whilst the non-power sector such as cement, manufacturing, etc., have seen double increase in supply within the same period.
“Unfortunately, challenges of pipeline attack continue to undermine the impact of these great efforts”, it said.
It noted that supply growth remained the priority of the NNPC and its Joint Venture partners.
“Many projects are being progressed to assure realisation of this objective. Before the end of the year, about 200mmcf/d new gas will be added to the grid as some projects are billed for completion in June and September.
“The trend is expected to continue through 2015 when many more projects are completed”, it stated.
It assured that efforts were being put in place to guarantee sustainable growth in gas supply, with particular focus on the power sector.