Nigeria: Gas Supply Disruption Shuts Geometric Plant, Cuts Power in Aba

A gas supply disruption has forced the shutdown of the 188-megawatt Geometric Power Plant in Aba, leaving customers across nine local government areas of Abia State's Ring-fence Area without electricity and raising fresh concerns about the reliability of gas infrastructure supporting Nigeria's power sector.

The outage began at about 6:30 p.m. on Friday after a sharp drop in gas pressure prevented the plant's turbines from operating. The shutdown immediately affected electricity distribution by Aba Power, the distribution arm of the Geometric Power Group, which supplies customers within the Ring-fence Area.

The disruption spotlights a long-standing weakness in Nigeria's electricity value chain: even where generation capacity is available, inadequate or unreliable gas infrastructure can quickly bring power production to a halt. For Aba, where businesses and residents have benefited from improved electricity supply since the Geometric Power project became operational, the interruption demonstrates the risks of depending on a single gas supply chain.

Gas pressure drop halts power generation

Aba Power Managing Director Ugo Opiegbe apologised to customers and said the disruption was linked to technical problems affecting the company's gas supply partner.

"Gas pressure has significantly dropped in the last 24 hours," Mr Opiegbe said, adding that the available pressure was insufficient to operate the plant's turbines, each with a capacity of 47 MW.

Although Aba Power did not identify the gas supplier, Industry sources said Heirs Energies has supplied gas to the Geometric Power Plant for about three years through its Associated Gas Gathering (AGG) facilities in eastern Nigeria.

A senior official of Nigeria Gas Marketing Limited (NGML), who was not authorised to speak publicly, explained that the problem was not a shortage of gas volumes but the inability to swap gas supplies because of constraints affecting Heirs Energies' AGG infrastructure.

"The issue is not the availability of gas," the official said. "The challenge is Heirs Energies' inability to swap its gas with NGML because of limitations in its AGG facilities."

The disruption has also drawn attention to infrastructure challenges associated with Oil Mining Lease 17 (OML 17), which Heirs Energies took over after the exit of The Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited.

Mechanical engineer and energy consultant Dike Ejike disclosed that Heirs Energies had invested heavily in the asset since taking over operatorship but inherited infrastructure that had suffered years of underinvestment.

"Heirs Energies has been investing aggressively since taking over the asset," Mr Ejike said. "However, it inherited legacy infrastructure that suffered years of underinvestment while the previous operator was engaged in prolonged litigation with the Federal Government over the renewal of its licence."

He added that the uncertainty surrounding the dispute had discouraged investment in critical infrastructure before the change in operatorship.

Aba awaits restoration as uncertainty persists

Mr Opiegbe asserted that it remained uncertain when gas pressure would return to normal, warning that electricity supply might not be restored within 24 hours.

The interruption has caused concern among residents and businesses across the Aba Ring-fence Area, which has experienced relatively more stable electricity supply since the Geometric Power project began operations.

The incident also pinponts the vulnerability of Nigeria's power sector to disruptions beyond the generation and distribution companies' immediate control. A functioning gas supply chain requires not only sufficient gas reserves but also reliable gathering, processing, transportation and network infrastructure capable of delivering the fuel to power plants when required.

Abuja-based engineer Uche Elugwu described the outage as unfortunate, saying the disruption demonstrated the need for stronger gas infrastructure to support reliable electricity generation.

"It is regrettable that the reliable electricity supply Aba residents have enjoyed is now being interrupted by gas supply issues beyond the control of Aba Power," he said.

The disruption puts renewed focus on the link between Nigeria's gas and electricity sectors. While the Geometric Power Plant has the capacity to generate electricity for Aba, the outage shows that generation capacity alone cannot guarantee reliable supply without a dependable gas delivery system.