The Nation Newspaper

Tag: power transmission

  • TCN to boost power transmission with 10 new substations

    TCN to boost power transmission with 10 new substations

    Electricity transmission in the Lagos Region will get a massive improvement before the Yuletide as the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), Lagos Region, comprising of Lagos and Ogun states, is set to add 10 new substations currently at the closing stages of construction into its operations.

    The general manager of TCN Lagos Region, Mojeed Akintola, made this known yesterday during a tour of ongoing projects of the TCN in Lagos. He assured that 25 other transmission projects were ongoing within the region which will ultimately raise the bar in transmission of electricity once completed.

    According to Akintola, around the Yaba axis of the company, 100MVA and 132/33KV and 33kva has been completed and ready for commissioning. In Alimosho area, Akintola explained that three voltage transformers has been installed on the secondary T3-100MVA 132/133kv transformer, amongst others.

    “The implication of this is that more electricity can be supplied for transmission to Nigerians. We are ready to up the ante in the sector,” Akintola said. 

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    He however regretted that the TCN’s operations has majorly been affected by the activities on vandals on its equipments. This, he further explained, made the firm to instal closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras in its 39 substations in the Lagos zone due to the persistent vandalism of its equipment.

    “We are collaborating with the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence and other security agencies to check the vandals.

    “Transmission Company is also partnering with the local chiefs and kings to help in taming this trend. Definitely, we can’t do it alone without the help of communities where these installations are based,”

    “We have met a number of companies that buy the vandalised equipment. “We asked them to work with us to stop the menace, and the responses of some of them have been positive,” Akintola said.

  • Osun is Nigeria’s heart of power transmission, says TCN

    The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) has described Osun State as the heart of power transmission in the country because of the weight of power facility domiciled in the state.

    The company’s Managing Director Usman Muhammed spoke at the weekend when he visited Governor Gboyega Oyetola in Osogbo, the state capital.

    He said: “Osun is significant to us as a company. Osogbo, the state capital, remains the heart of TCN in this country.

    “We are here to visit Mr Governor to strengthen our partnership and ensure improvement in our service delivery to the country.

    “Right now, Osun has six transmission lines while two are virtually ready for installation to make them eight. Osun also has five sub-stations, making the state to be outstanding.

    “These are milestones because many other states don’t even have one transmission line.

    “As a sensitive company, efforts have been improved upon to meet the national electricity requirement by making the NCC a real National Control Centre.

    “So, we are ready to work with the Osun State government to expand its electricity capacity for the development of the state.”

    Muhammed, who was accompanied by top officials, said TCN under his watch had recorded great achievements and completed many projects which were previously abandoned.

    The TCN chief said his team’s efforts led to the improvement in electricity transmission being witnessed in recent times.

    He said the company decided to collaborate with the Osun in cognisance of the state’s economic potential.

    Oyetola described Osun as an investment destination because of the relatively stable electricity supply.

    Osogbo, the state capital, especially enjoys an average of 16 hours of electricity supply daily, making it attractive to investors, the governor said.

    “An investor who can have not less than 16 hours of electricity supply has the problem of energy supply solved,” he added.

    Oyetola hosted the TCN delegation with Deputy Governor Benedict Alabi, the Supervisor for Finance Bola Oyebamiji, the Supervisor for Agriculture, Dr. Charles Akinola, among others.

    The governor hailed the company’s management for its high sense of diligence and commitment to duty.

    He said the TCN deserved to be praised for the relative stability of power supply in the country.

  • FEC okays policy to boost power transmission

    FEC okays policy to boost power transmission

    The Federal Executive Council (FEC) yesterday approved a memo for a framework to boost transmission of power to Nigerians.

    The Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, accompanied by the Minister of Information, Lai Mohammed, Minister of Water Resources  Suleiman Adamu and the Minister of State for Aviation, Hadi Sirika, said the policy will facilitate investments into the sector and make it possible for power being generated to be added to the National grid for the benefit of Nigerians.

    He said while the country is generating 7000 megawatts of electricity, he regretted that the power Distribution Companies (Discos) don’t have the capacity to take more than 5000 megawatts.

    “FEC today (yesterday) approved a Memo providing a framework of investment at the 33KVA and 11KVA line in expanding the national distribution network, to deliver an extra 2000Megawatts of electricity to consumers, which is currently not getting to the grid, will get to the grid and then to consumers,” Fashola said, adding that Nigeria today has 2000Mw of electricity that cannot reach consumers because of lack of distribution capacity

    He said the reason they are not getting to the grid, is that those networks are not sufficient to support more than 5,000Mw, so investments has to come in.

    Fashola said while the federal government has 40 per cent  shareholder and the DISCOS have 60 per cent and will be compel to make additional investments which they were suppose to have made. The process of which will involved international … for the procurement  of the equipment, lines and all of the accessories to build those networks and there will be more under international procurement standards.

    “The federal government will put is own 40% and ask the DISCOS to put their own 60% and other parties who are interested will have the opportunity to improve the investments.

    “This is just to accelerate action to ensure that the 2000MW that is available now gets to the grid and gets to the people because power is coming. We are expecting many more power plants to complete this year which will add almost 1,600MW to the grid.

     

  • FEC okays policy on power transmission

    FEC okays policy on power transmission

    The Federal Executive Council (FEC) on Wednesday approved a framework to boost transmission of power to Nigerians.

    The Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, briefed State House correspondents at the end of FEC meeting chaired by President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

    According to him, the policy approved on Wednesday will facilitate investments into the sector and make it possible for power being generated to be added to the National Grid for the benefit of Nigerians.

    While the country is generating 7,000 megawatts, he regretted that the Discos don’t have the capacity to take more than 5,000 megawatts.

     

     

  • AEDC to distribute more power with new transmission station

    AEDC to distribute more power with new transmission station

    With the commissioning of the Kukuaba Transmission Station, the Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC) on Tuesday said that it is now reinforced and better positioned to serve its customers better.

    Speaking at the ceremony in Abuja, where the Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, who was represented by the Permanent Secretary, Engr. Louis Edozien, the Managing Director of AEDC, Engr. Ernest Mupwaya explained that the company can now distribute power directly to Lugbe and its environs. 

    This, according to him, is that the line from where the consumers are now getting their power is nearby. 

    “Those who are being served from Katampe in Gwarimpa, Life Camp, Mabuchi, Maitama, Wuse II, Jahi and others will also enjoy improved supply. This is so because it has now been freed of the power it was releasing to Lugbe. In the long time, we will have the capacity to take more electricity,” he said.

    According to him, the firm has reinforced 4,048 sub-stations in its network through maintenance services while surveying the protection system of 68 others.

    Speaking earlier at the opening session of the 17th Power Sector Meeting in Abuja, he said the reinforcement was to boost power supply and enhance health and safety in its operational environment.

    The AEDC boss noted the improvement in the power sector saying, “the usual discussions in the past about power deficit is gradually giving way to discussions about increased power not being utilised. This is further supported by the rate at which incremental generation is being commissioned in the industry.”

    He noted that commissioning the 132/33Kva Kukuaba transmission sub-station by the federal government shortly after the meeting would boost power supply directly in Lugbe area of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

    “The majority of customers in Abuja City such as Maitama, Wuse II, Gwarinpa and Mpape will also benefit from improved supply because of the freed capacity in the Katampe transmission substation,” Mupwaya added.

    Reeling out other achievements of the Distribution Company (DisCo) since it was privatised in 2013, he said: “We have completed Large Power Users (LPU) metering of 3,885 customers by February 2017; flagged off metering of Small Power Users (SPU) in December 2016 and close to 90,000 are metered so far.”

    AEDC said it has improved the organisational design, corporate governance and compliance, and improved training for its personnel.

    The Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Power, Engr. Louis Edozien who chaired the meeting said the ministry has rolled out policy directives to address the limitation of 33Kv and 11Kv distribution infrastructures across the DisCos to solve the issues of power underutilisation often tagged as load rejection.

    Edozien urged the DisCos not to feel threatened by the recent ‘Eligible Customer’ pronouncement that will allow certain customers to buy power directly from the Generation Companies (GenCos). He said the declaration will strengthen their services and improve revenue base to tackle the liquidity crisis in the sector.

    He also revealed that the Market Operator and the Nigeria Bulk Electricity Trading Plc (NBET) are in the process of restructuring the bulk energy debts owed by DisCos to help them raise financing while improving their services to customers.

  • Power transmission hits 4545Mw

    Power transmission hits 4545Mw

    •TCN: Fed Govt extends Manitoba’s contract for one year

    The Management of Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) yesterday said the nation has achieved a new electricity transmission peak of 4545megawatts (Mw)  through its national network.

    In a statement endorsed by its General Manager, Public Affairs, Seun Olagunju, the feat was achieved at 21.45hrs two days ago.

    The previous power transmission peak of 4517Mw was attained on December 23, 2012.

    TCN management had,  last week, informed the general public that electricity wheeling to the distribution companies (DISCOs) has improved to over 4000Mw due to improvement in fuel supply to the power generation plants.

    TCN assured that it will continue to work towards enhancing its power wheeling capability and reliability of the network to be able to deliver more quality electricity from the generation plants to the DISCOs nationwide.

    Meanwhile, the Federal Government has signed a one-year extension of its current management contract for  the TCN with Manitoba Hydro International (MHI) Limited of Canada.

    The extension follows a three-year Management Contract signed in 2012 to manage TCN’s electrical power transmission, system operation and market operation undertakings, as well as train TCN personnel.

    The contract, which was signed by TCN, MHI and the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE), and which would expire on July 31this year  has now been extended to July 31 next year.

    Olagunju said MHI will continue to assume responsibility for the management and control of TCN’s entire operations, working alongside their Nigerian counterparts to transform the company into a technically and financially efficient, stable, and sustainable company.

    TCN said MHI, working together with TCN workers, have achieved a wheeling capacity of 5,300Mw and reduced system losses from over 12 per cent to approximately eight per cent. In addition, system collapses have reduced significantly, from 22 in 2013 to nine last year, while the duration of collapses has reduced from more than 2.5 hours to approximately 30 minutes.

    The fourth year of the contract will focus on further increasing TCN’s capacity to transmit power in the grid, in anticipation of rising levels of generation in the country.

    Additionally, MHI will facilitate the unbundling of TCN into two new organisations, the Transmission Service Provider and the Independent System Operator, while simultaneously building the capacity of local management to take over the leadership of these organisations at the end of its contract.

    The Chairman of TCN’s Supervisory Board, Mr. Ibrahim Waziri expressed satisfaction with MHI performance, noting that the firm will continue to play a role in TCN’s transformation and development. “Working together, we expect to build on our achievements over the past three years,” he said.

  • Govt to sell $20b power transmission assets

    Govt to sell $20b power transmission assets

    • $3.5b spent on transmission

    Nigeria is considering offers of more than $20 billion for the assets of its national electricity transmission company as it struggles to provide adequate power to Africa’s largest economy, Power Minister Chinedu Nebo said.

    The sale of state-owned Transmission Co. of Nigeria may start “in a few years,” Nebo said in a chat with Bloomberg Television Africa in Abuja. The government will also focus on developing renewable energy projects to diversify its supply of electricity, he said.

    “The interest now for transmission is over $20 billion; People are coming from everywhere,” he said.

    Transmission is the only segment of the power industry that the government still controls as it seeks to curb regular blackouts in a ountry which generates about a 10th of the power that South Africa does even though its population of about 170 million is more than three times larger.

    The Federal Government  has spent $3.5 billion to boost transmission capacity by 50 per cent. Nigeria sold 15 state-owned generation and distribution firms to raise funds.

    The transmission capacity of Abuja-based TCN is 5,500 megawatts (Mw) compared with an installed generation capacity of 8,000Mw, Nebo said. This means that if generation firms were operating at full capacity, the grid would be unable to transmit all of the power to homes. The government wants transmission capacity to exceed 6,000 Mw by 2016, Nebo said.

    Power generation is significantly lower than capacity, partially due to problems of transporting gas to power plants. Many companies and individuals are compelled to use diesel-powered generators to ensure adequate electricity.

    “Gas supply has been a limiting factor,” said Nebo, who is working with Minister of Petroleum Resources Diezani Alison-Madueke to make enough gas available to generation companies to match the transmission capacity by the end of next year.

    “Nigeria is moving in the direction of trying to have a robust energy mix,” he said.

    Coal is another resource that could generate between 3,000 and 5,000 Mw of power “in the next several years” after government reclaims unused coal blocks, the minister said.

    “We are working on making sure those coal blocks are taken away from those who have refused to develop them over the decades and are given to those who can actually develop them,” he said.

    Officials are deciding which model to adopt for the company’s sale. Manitoba Hydro-Electric Board of Canada’s three-year management contract ends next year. The process could take the form of a public-private partnership, a concession or a build-operate-transfer, Nebo said.

  • FG earmarks N752bn for expansion of power transmission for five years

    FG earmarks N752bn for expansion of power transmission for five years

    Vice President Namadi Sambo recently said the Federal Government had earmarked N752 billion for expansion of power transmission in the next five years.

    Sambo said this at the inauguration of the National Council on Power in Abuja.

    Sambo, represented by the Minister of Power, Prof Chinedu Nebo, said government would continue to expand the national transmission grid to all parts of the country.

    He said this would be done through additional resources leveraged from Development Finance Institutions (DFIs).

    The VP said government was also committed to adequate provisions within the national annual budget in the years ahead.

    He added that government also intended that more innovative approaches would be adopted to fund the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) by opening private sector investment window in future.

    He said some institutions had been established to earn investors’ confidence by further enhancing the environment for doing business in the sector.

    Sambo said for the sector to grow in the direction the government intended it to be, metering gap amongst consumers must be bridged to shore up market revenue.

    He said it was for this reason that government was sourcing for various fundings.

    Sambo said this included opening an initial N33 billion soft term credit line to enable the distribution companies to acquire smart meters.

    He stated that the Ministry of Power and the Ministry of Mines and Solid Minerals Development had been directed to ensure the take-off of the first large scale coal-to- power project.

    Sambo called on the council to come up with clear roles and mandates for stakeholders in the sector, as well as set targets and strategies toward achieving the power reform objectives.

    The Minister of Power, who is also the Chairman of the council, said it would facilitate the progress needed to adequately advance the sector.

    Nebo said the council would ensure the transformation of power to launch the country into an era of massive industrialisation and double digit GDP growth rate.