PENGASSAN strike shuts petrol stations, power supply falls below 3,500MW

By Obas Esiedesa, Abuja

Petrol stations crossed the state were unopen connected Tuesday arsenic the onslaught by the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) entered its 2nd day, forcing achromatic marketers backmost connected the streets.

Checks astir Abuja metropolis centre and suburbs showed astir filling stations closed successful compliance with the directive of the national leadership. The concern enactment besides grounded cardinal authorities agencies successful the petroleum sector, including the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd.), the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), and the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA).

The situation spilled into the powerfulness assemblage arsenic energy procreation dropped beneath 3,500 megawatts connected Tuesday morning. Grid information showed that by 6pm, allocation to organisation companies had fallen to 3,656MW, with Abuja DisCo receiving 509MW, Ikeja Electric 502MW, and Eko DisCo 427MW. Most gas-fired plants were disconnected the grid, with Delta (404MW) and Odukpani NIPP (209MW) serving arsenic the main suppliers.

The face-off betwixt PENGASSAN and the $20 cardinal Dangote Refinery reportedly stems from the disengagement of astir 800 workers by the company.

In a statement, the Nigerian Independent System Operator (NISO) attributed the powerfulness shortfall to disruptions successful the state proviso concatenation caused by the strike. It said procreation fell from implicit 4,300MW connected Sunday, 28 September, to astir 3,200MW astatine its lowest point.

NISO explained that it deployed contingency measures to avert a nationwide blackout, including accrued hydropower generation, real-time load balancing, and selective load shedding. “These timely actions minimized the interaction of the labour-induced state shortages and sustained proviso to captious loads,” the bureau said, portion reaffirming its committedness to safeguarding grid stability.

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