By Adewale Sanyaolu
The standoff between Dangote Petroleum Refinery and the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) escalated yesterday, cutting the nation’s power output by 1,000 megawatts.
Fuel depots along the Apapa, Lagos corridor suspended loading operations following PENGASSAN’s directive, with most members and branch officials strictly adhering to the order from the union’s national leadership.
The Nigerian Independent System Operator (NISO) in a statement on Tuesday said the industrial action by PENGASSAN) has led to “major generation shortfalls” on the national grid.
The statement, which quoted NISO, reported a 25.58 per cent or 1,100MW reduction in available power generation, plummeting from over 4,300MW in the early hours of Sunday to around 3,200MW at its lowest point.
The system operator said contingency measures were promptly deployed in response to the generation shortfalls to preserve the stability, security, and reliability of the national grid.
“Key interventions include: Hydropower Optimisation with strategic ramp-ups from major hydro stations, contributing over 400 MW of additional output to cushion the shortfall from gas-fired plants,” it said.
Another intervention was real-time load adjustments to match available generation with system demand, while preventing a system frequency collapse.
There was also continuous deployment of reactive power compensation and reserve monitoring to safeguard system integrity.
“Selective load shedding, applied as a last resort, to avert a system-wide collapse and ensure fair power distribution. These timely actions enabled the NISO NCC to minimise the impact of the labour-induced gas shortages, sustain operational security, and maintain supply to critical loads, thereby averting a nationwide blackout.”
In addition, the NISO reaffirmed its commitment to proactive grid management, operational excellence, and the application of best-in-class practices to guarantee a secure and reliable electricity supply for Nigeria.
Apart from suspension of truck loading at the Apapa depot, vessel loading via various jetties was equally impacted.
Some of the marketers who spoke to Daily Sun in separate interviews said should the disagreement between Dangote Refinery and the PENGASSAN not get resolved in a matter of days, the crisis would snowball in a full blown energy crisis.
Also speaking, a top executive in one of the downstream companies, Mr. Tunde Agbebi, said “I am very unhappy this morning. PENGASSAN has ordered the withdrawal of services by its members in companies where they have a union. All these companies set up by various investors and entrepreneurs have no quarrel with the union. In a country where jobs are scarce and setting up a business is very challenging, the union believes this is the best option to address their grievances with a single company.
All the workers who are going to withdraw their services expect to be paid their salaries at the end of the month. If they are sick, they will go to hospital and expect the company to pay. How is this action encouraging to investors both local and foreign?
The same union fought against the sale of the refineries. They also prevented the deregulation of the Downstream for over 20 years. Tomorrow you will see their leadership transit to the National Assembly or higher political office,’’.
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