By Shakrullah Owolabi
The 1320 megawatt capacity Egbin Power Plant has resumed partial operations after it shut down over a fire incident that occurred on February 2, 2022.
The Group Managing Director of Sahara Power, owners of the Egbin Power Plant, Mr. Kola Adesina, who gave the update in a phone interview, maintained that though the operation is still partial with just one 220mw capacity turbine in operation, plans are ongoing to raise the output to 660 MW before Monday.
The Plant located in Egbin, Ikorodu area of Lagos is the largest thermal power plant in entire sub-Saharan Africa. It contributes 16 percent of the national grid and its shutdown for safety reasons after the February 2 fire incident has caused load shedding from the grid to the 11 Distribution companies (DisCos) across the country.
“The plant is not completely out of operation as erroneously reported. We only shut down as a safety measure but as I speak with you, one unit is back on stream generating 220mw. We understand the impact on the national economy, though it is a sequence we have mobilized resources to ensure we continue to energize the economy,” Adesina said.
He added that before the end of the day, another unit will be up to raise generation from the plant to 440mw.
Assuring that with the level of efforts in place, the plant would be adding 660mw before the weekend runs out, Adesina cautioned against sending the wrong signal of blackouts resulting from the fire incident, explaining that it was not a crippling inferno and that the management understand the critical input of the plant in stabilizing electricity supply in the country.
