Managing Director of Niger Delta Power Holding Company (NDPHC) Chiedu Ugbo has said the Lafia Transmission Substation would serve not less than one million households.
He said the three-in-one project, which took five years to build, had six feeders to serve at least one million households and businesses.
The company chief hoped the substation would become Nigeria’s transmission hub with back feed to Abuja.
Ugbo, who spoke at Lafia, said the facility, expected to boost supply to one million households and businesses, would improve the wellbeing of Nigerians in Nasarawa State.
The 2X150MVA and 2x60MVA 330/132/33KV substation, built by NDPHC, was inaugurated by President Muhammadu Buhari.
He explained that before the substation, Lafia was served by a single 70 km distribution line from Akwanga, saying with much connections on the way, the power that eventually got to Lafia was very dim.
In a statement yesterday he was quoted as saying: “So there was no useful electricity in Lafia and its environs.”
“We expect the project to improve the well-being of residents of Lafia and Nasarawa State and improve economic activities, creation of jobs.
“Also, because of the big nature of the project, we expect it to become the transmission hub in the country. TCN is working on the connection. A 330KV connection from here to Abuja, to back feed Abuja”, he said.
Ugbo added: “NDPHC decided to build this Lafia Substation to step down down electricity from the high voltage transmission line to a lower voltage level where the distribution company (Abuja Disco) can now draw electricity and serve close to one million households and businesses. It will boost economic activities, with positive knock-on effects on employment and socio-economic improvement”.
Executive Director of Networks at NDPHC Ifeoluwa Oyedele noted although the company was for generation, it executed projects in transmission and distribution to ensure supply was improved.
“In the last 15 years, NDPHC has built 10 power stations and that is our main focus. However, we do realise that when you generate power it has to get to the consumers and that is why we have been intervening in transmission substations, injection substations and so on.
“This is because no organisation can do what we do, with the speed that we do it, with the quality that we do and at the cost that we do it. We are arguably the largest power company in Africa,” he said.