Page 12 - AfrElec Week 17

AfrElec
NEWS IN BRIEF
AfrElec
the application on the back of the struggling economy, which is severely affected by
the Covid-19 pandemic, however, future tariffs are expected to increase in line with inflation and to cater for new generation
as per the National Integrated Resource Plan. External factors such as the weather, foreign exchange fluctuation and other unforeseen circumstances will be taken into consideration.
The Electricity Control Board said in order to mitigate the impact of the tariff
on consumers and the economy, especially during times when the economy is struggling, they allowed an amount of N$50mn from the Long Run Marginal Cost fund.
The amount will be used by NamPower to supplement fuel costs for Van Eck and Anixas Power Plants or procure emergency energy if necessary.
INVESTMENT
Egypt to spend $114mn to upgrade networks 2021
The Ministry of Electricity has allocated EGP 1.8bn to upgrade power networks in Sinai and Suez Canal regions and Sharqeya governorate as part of its budget for the 2020/21fiscal year.
Mohamed El-Sayed, head of the Canal Company for Electricity Distribution (CCED), said the upgrade plan in 2021 also would include setting up four electricity controls in Sharm El-Sheikh, Hurghada, Ismailia, and the 10th of Ramadan cities.
The new controls would offer better network management, reduce faults, and facilitate replacement and renewal operations.
He pointed out that the company has completed the establishment of an integrated electricity network in Sinai that covers more than 98% of the region’s residents and supplies power to water and sewage stations in Arish city, North Sinai.
El-Sayed added that several major electricity projects have been established to meet development projects’ needs of power
in Sinai, the Red Sea, and Sharqeya. These projects comprise 14 distributors and 421
km long transmission cables serving 16mn residents in the aforementioned regions which represent 30% of Egypt’s total area
DEMAND
Uganda: demand for electricity declines 10%
Since the lockdown in March, demand for electricity has dropped by 10% in Uganda .
According to Uganda Electricity Transmission Company Limited (UETCL), there has been a marginal drop in demand for electricity since the country went into lockdown in March.
“The demand for electricity has dropped by 10% since the lockdown started. It has fallen from 680 megawatts (MW) to 600MW,” Pamella Byoruganda, UETCL’s principle public relations manager, told Daily Monitor.
GRID
Nigeria grid collapses as generation drops
Nigeria’s electricity grid collapsed in the early hour of April 29, leaving the nation in darkness.
The grid went down at about 1:21AM. The system was later restored shortly but power generation down to about 2,900MW.
The system recorded 11 system collapses in 2019 and had collapsed earlier in 2020.
The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), while confirming the development, noted that investigation was on to ascertain the reasons behind the collapse.
“TCN would commence investigations into the cause of the supply loss as soon as full recovery is achieved. We are committed to ensuring grid stability and consistent bulk power supply, especially at this time
of the pandemic,”the General Manager, Public Affairs at TCN, Ndidi Mbah said in a statement.
She disclosed that the National Control Centre (NCC) of TCN in Osogbo had been working on fully restoring supply.
The Association of Nigerian Electricity Distributors (ANED), the umbrella body
of the distribution companies had last year decried the repeated system collapse, stating that TCN’s analogue system caused over 100 electricity grid collapses since the privatisation of the power sector in 2013.
UETCL supplies bulk electricity from
generating plants to distributors such as
Umeme. ESKOM
President Museveni on March 30 initiated a total lockdown in an effort to curb the spread of Covid-19 but directed utility companies not to disconnect consumers.
However, the directive has done little to save demand since the lockdown culminated into closure of a number of businesses.
Industries, which consume more than 60% of the country’s electricity have since the lockdown reduced production.
Daniel Birungi, the Uganda Manufacturers Association executive director, said the
10% drop might not be a true reflection because industrial production has dropped tremendously.
“Others are working on a much reduced capacity and are now doing one shift because of the curfew. The addressable market for manufacturers has fallen anywhere between 50-70%,” he said, noting the drop is higher.
Eskom takes steps to mend
environmental breaches at
Kendal Power Station
Eskom had acknowledged the environmental breaches emanating from its operation of the Kendal power station, and is in the process of mending the technical faults that led to the environmental breaches.
According to Eskom this, however,
will take some time to be completed as a significant amount of repair work is required to repair the generation units.
Some of the work has already been executed.
Eskom said that the station has been operating above the emission limits since the strike action late in 2018 which left
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Week 17 30•April•2020