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country. In some areas, the outage began on Eskom Uganda said, “This project is of completion of the GERD’s construction and
Sunday. important significance to the lifespan of filling, he said.
Eko Electricity Distribution Company, Nalubaale Power Station, because it is the For his part, DiCarlo confirmed that the
based in Lagos, said “Dear valued customer, first of a number of projects that Eskom is United Nations Environment Programme will
we regret to inform you of a system collapse currently undertaking to address a historical provide technical support on the GERD issue.
on the National Grid that’s causing outages challenge of the Alkali Silica Reaction (ASR) Earlier on Wednesday, Sudanese Minister
across our network. We are working with our which has troubled civil hydro infrastructure of Water Resources and Irrigation, Yasser
TCN partners to restore supply as soon as the world over and Nalubaale in particular. Abbas, said that failure to reach a legally
possible.” This project, as well as other ASR related binding agreement on the controversial
Ikeja Electric, also in Lagos, also updated projects currently under execution, will Ethiopian dam is set to threaten half of
its customers on Facebook: “Dear Esteemed ensure that the structural integrity of the Sudan’s population.
Customer, the current power outage is due to Power Station will be robust for many years to He added that serious negotiations must
a nationwide system collapse that occurred at come. “ be held between the three countries. He said
about 12:26hrs. Power supply will be restored Nalubaale Powerhouse, constructed in that Sudan addressed the United Nations
gradually to various parts of the network as 1954, consists of 3 levels; the machine floor, Security Council, and called for a change
soon as the Grid is stabilised. Kindly bear with upper (below the machine floor) and lower in the negotiation methodology, calling for
us.” galleries (below upper gallery) connected serious negotiations that preserve the interests
The Abuja Electricity Distribution through concrete stairwells. of all parties.
Company (AEDC) said in a statement, by its Deterioration of the powerhouse structure
general manager, corporate communications, was first noticed in 1964, when hairline
Oyebode Fadipe, that the system collapse cracking in the generator floor started to
happened around 12:26pm on Wednesday. appear, gradually resulting in degradation GRID
The statement said Abuja and of the generator floor, upper gallery, and
neighbouring states were affected by the structure frame of the powerhouse. Nigeria’s power distribution
outage. In 1990, the cracking was diagnosed as
“We have been unable to serve our being due to concrete expansion caused by firms increase revenue
customers in Niger, Kogi and Nasarawa States Alkali Silica Reaction (ASR), a chemical
as well as a significant portion of the entire reaction which in the presence of water may collections by 63%
Federal Capital Territory,” it said according to cause structural movements and detrimental
the statement quoted by The Cable. effects of civil hydro infrastructure. Against the backdrop of reforms and the
“At the moment, only 20 megawatts (MW) introduction of Service-Based Tariff (SBT),
has been allocated to AEDC as against the power Distribution Companies (DisCo) have
over 400MW that we have been receiving in increased revenue by 63 percent.
recent times.” HYDRO According to Vice President Yemi
The Enugu Electricity Distribution Osinbajo, government subsidy in the sector
Company said, “Please be informed that we Sudan asserts rejection will soon be limited as metering and other
lost supply this morning from our sources reforms improve the efficiency of the sector.
of power supply at Awada – New Haven and of unilateral Ethiopian Osinbajo, who spoke at the 14th annual
Egbu Transmission Stations, due to a total conference of the Nigerian Association
system collapse. measures regarding GERD of Energy Economics (NAEE), said with
increased funding, the power sector would
crisis soon be fully financed by the market, rather
than government subsidies.
HYDRO Sudanese Prime Minister (PM) Abdalla “It is anticipated that all electricity market
Hamdouk stressed, on Wednesday, his revenues will be obtained from the market
Eskom Uganda renovates country’s rejection of Ethiopia’s unilateral, with limited subsidies as reforms in metering
ill-considered steps regarding to the Grand
and efficiency with the Discos continue to
Nalubaale Powerhouse Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) crisis. improve.
“There is an accelerated investment in
His remarks came during a meeting with
Staircases UN Under-Secretary-General for Political transmission and distribution (over $3bn)
infrastructure that will put Nigeria on a path
Affairs and Peacebuilding Affairs Rosemary
Eskom Uganda has is to refurbish Nalubaale DiCarlo. to 10GW+ and beyond through interventions
Plant powerhouse staircases. During their meeting, Hamdouk asserted with the CBN, the Siemens partnership, the
The refurbishment of the Units 1,5 and his country’s firm position regarding GERD, World Bank, and African Development Bank
9 staircases was undertaken by Babcon explaining that Sudan did not oppose the and others,” the vice president said.
Ltd, a Ugandan Company to improve their construction of the dam, but rejected the He said that efforts to invest $3bn in
structural integrity and ease accessibility to unilateral measures taken by Ethiopia. He revamping the distribution and transmission
the lower gallery of the powerplant in order also underlined the need to reach a legally networks were ongoing in collaboration with
to access the turbines and waterways for binding agreement that meets the interest of the private sector,
maintenance. all parties. The vice president, who was represented
Speaking at the commissioning, Ms Sudan is looking forward to securing by Special Adviser to the President on
Thozama Gangi, the Managing Director, a legally binding agreement ahead of the Infrastructure, Ahmad Zakari, stated,

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