The Nation Newspaper

Tag: TCN

  • Power dips by 480MW as vandals hit Onitsha tower

    Power dips by 480MW as vandals hit Onitsha tower

    The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) has said that tower no 62, along the Okpai-Onitsha 330kV double circuit transmission line, evacuating power from the Okpai Power Station in Delta State, has been vandalized.

    The incident which took place at Asaba Uchi, Ndokwa East Local Government, has resulted in the reduction of available power to the national grid by about 480MW.

    According to the release, “at about 4:51 am on Tuesday, 10th November, 2015, the Okpai – Onitsha 330kV transmission line tripped and the cause of the tripping was traced to tower No 62, which had been vandalized. Two of the four legs of the transmission tower were cut by vandals, causing the tower to hang precariously. This poses a major threat to transmission grid integrity as a total collapse of this tower could bring down several other towers along the transmission line route.”

    TCN management and its quick response engineering crew inspected the site of the incident, located in the swampy forest of Asaba Uchi, the same day, and have already mobilized a reputable engineering contracting firm to anchor the transmission tower temporarily, to avoid total collapse.

    Anchoring the vandalized tower will enable TCN energize one of the circuits on the tower, to enable it recommence partial power evacuation from the Okapi Power Station to the national grid. This is expected to be achieved within a fortnight.

    The statement further noted that TCN will construct a new tower to replace the vandalized tower no 62, but that due to the swampy nature of the site, construction can only commence in the dry season when vehicular access is possible.

    TCN reassures that it would continue to work towards a robust transmission grid, and pleads with all, especially its host communities, to work with the Company in its fight against the nefarious activities of vandals.

    The construction of a new tower it noted will cost the company millions of naira which would have been applied to its grid expansion plans.

  • TCN eyes 30 projects to increase wheeling capacity

    • Privatisation not yet on table

    As power generation improves and expected to continue to increase, the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) has marked 30 critical projects to expand its wheeling capacity to 8,000 megawatts (Mw) from its current 5,300Mw.

    Its Managing Director, Dr. Abubakar Rasheed Tambuwal, told The Nation that the TCN has over 130 projects ongoing but chose 30 out the number to equip the transmission network for more generation.

    He said: “We have over 130 ongoing projects from 2002 but some of them were stalled due to lack of fund. Out of those we have identified about 30 which are critical for us to be able to reach the evacuation capacity that we need over next coming years. These are the projects that we have articulated for immediate funding. We are still working with the government. We are putting in our request, so that these critical projects are properly funded.

    “We are not waiting for investors because that will take time for them to come and fund the projects. We are looking inwards from whatever source to be able to get enough money, which I said is a minimum of N15 billion in a year to be able to get the few selected critical projects to proceed to where we would be able to wheel the power to customers.”

    He also noted that the National Integrated Power Project (NIPP) has done some transmission projects, commission and handed them over to TCN. “NIPP is also responsible for generation, transmission and distribution. On the transmission aspect, they execute those projects, commission and hand over to us. We have a way of paying back. We have not started paying back but it is a project that is being funded by the three tiers of government, we are looking at ways of getting them paid back.

    “But now we are working in good harmony with them. All the projects they have been executing in transmission, we are taking over and we are running them,” he said.

    On privatisation of TCN, Abubakar said may be in the long term. “Privatising the TCN, I think, will be in the long term. But presently, TCN is being managed by contractors, Manitoba Hydro International. They have just been renewed one year after the previous contract time elapsed. It is expected that by the time they finish their tenure, the company will be able to be in a status that can be concessioned, that is part of the contract deliverable of Manitoba.

    “So the company should be able to be concessioned by the government but not outright sale. But decision by the government in the future could involve privatisation but that is not on the table yet. As far as improved generation is concerned, that is why I said we have identified these projects that will make us be capable of transmitting whatever energy that is generated,” he added.

    Abubakar stated that funding of TCN has not improved considering the fact that a lot of projects are in the pipeline, which need to be bonded and because of the present situation, there is need for additional funding from what we used to have.

    “We are making all efforts to ensure that we bring funds outside appropriation of government. We have investors who are ready to come in and participate in our investor financing scheme. The scheme is still at its preliminary stage but as soon as we finalise it, we will have investors who are willing to put in their funds to develop our transmission infrastructure. We also expect more funding from the Federal Government to be able to achieve the mandate we have set for ourselves to improve on the transmission capacity,” he added.

    He said the additional funding from the government is very vital because generation has improved due to improved gas supply.

  • TCN eyes 30 projects to boost wheeling

    As the power generation improves and expected to continue to increase, the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) has marked out 30 critical projects to expand its wheeling capacity to 8,000 megawatts (Mw) from 5,300Mw.

    Its Managing Director , Dr. Abubakar Rasheed Tambuwal,  told The Nation that TCN has over 130 projects ongoing but chose 30  to equip the transmission network for more generation.

    He said: “We have over 130 ongoing projects from 2002 but some of them were stalled due to lack of fund. Out of those we have identified about 30 which are critical for us to be able to reach the evacuation capacity that we need over next coming years. These are the projects that we have articulated for immediate funding. We are still working with the government. We are putting in our request, so that these critical projects are properly funded.

    “We are not waiting for investors because that will take time for them to come and fund the projects. We are looking inwards from whatever source to be able to get enough money, which I said is a minimum of N15 billion in a year to be able to get the few selected critical projects to proceed to where we would be able to wheel the power to customers.”

    He also noted that the National Integrated Power Project (NIPP) has done some transmission projects, commissioned and handed  over to TCN.

    “NIPP is also responsible for generation, transmission and distribution. On the transmission aspect, they execute those projects, commission and hand over to us. We have a way of paying back. We have not started paying back but it is a project that is being funded by the three tiers of the government, we are looking at ways of getting them paid back.

    “But we are working in good harmony with them. All the projects they have been executing in transmission, we are taking over and we are running them,” he said.

    Abubakar said privatisation of TCN  might be in the long-term. “Privatising the TCN, I think, will be in the long term. But TCN is being managed by contractors, Manitoba Hydro International. They have just been renewed one year after the previous contract time elapsed. It is expected that by the time they finish their tenure, the company will be able to be in a status that can be concessioned, that is part of the contract deliverable of Manitoba.

    “So, the company should be able to be concessioned by the government but not outright sale. But decision by the government in the future could involve privatisation but that is not on the table yet. As far as improved generation is concerned, that is why I said we have identified these projects that will make us be capable of transmitting whatever energy that is generated,” he added.

    Abubakar said funding to TCN has not improved considering the fact that a lot of projects are in the pipeline, which need to be bonded and because of the present situation, there is need for additional funding from what we used to have. “We are making all efforts to ensure that we bring funds outside appropriation of government. We have investors who are ready to come in and participate in our investor financing scheme. The scheme is still at its preliminary stage but as soon as we finalise it, we will have investors who are willing to put in their funds to develop our transmission infrastructure. We also expect more funding from the Federal Government to be able to achieve the mandate we have set for ourselves to improve on the transmission capacity,” he said.

    He said the additional funding from the government was vital because generation has improved due to improved gas supply.

  • Power chief decries lack of TCN’s work centre in Uyo

    Power chief decries lack of TCN’s work centre in Uyo

    The Managing Director of Ibom Power Company, Dr. Victor Udo, has decried the absence of a transmission work centre in Akwa Ibom State.

    Speaking with reporters, Udo said it was not good that each time there were faults, the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) deploys workers from the work centre at Calabar, the Cross River State capital.

    Udo said: “When faults occur along transmission lines, TCN deploys workers from the work centre at Calabar.

    “The implication is that faults that ought to be resolved within a short time take longer to resolve because of the logistics in transporting TCN workers from Calabar to Uyo”.

    “We have four 132kV transmission substations in Akwa Ibom State at Ikot Abasi, Eket, Itu and Uyo while two 330kV transmission substations are in advanced stages of completion. Therefore, a transmission work centre ought to be established in Akwa Ibom State.”

    He added that “some other places that have only one or two transmission substations have at least one TCN work centre while we have four transmission substations with no work centre in the state.

    ‘’The issue has been discussed with chief executives of Nigeria Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) and TCN. We will continue to push until TCN establishes a work centre in Akwa Ibom State.”

    Udo said the defunct Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) failed to instal sufficient injection substations.

    “We need at least two more injection substations in Uyo due to the population increase. The 11KV substation installed 10 years ago is no longer sufficient to meet the demands of the people.

    “It is not the responsibility of government to provide injection substations although government has intervened to instal transformers in communities across the state,” he said.

    Udo said providing this substations would amount to government providing mobile phone services or building masts for telecommunication companies after privatisation.

    He urged the Port Harcourt Electricity Distribution Company (PHEDC) to “improve operational efficiency to sustain the steady power supply”.

  • TCN shortlists investors for 8,000Mw transmission capacity

    TCN shortlists investors for 8,000Mw transmission capacity

    • N15b needed yearly for three years

    The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) has shortlisted over 30 local and foreign investors for investment in the transmission infrastructure to enable it attain its target of 8,000 megawatts (Mw) capacity by end of next year.

    The firm has set a target to achieve the capacity to transmit 8,000Mw of power by the end of next year considering the continued improvement in power supply.

    Its Managing Director, Dr. Abubakar Rasheed Tambuwal, an engineer, said the management was being proactive in order not to be caught unprepared.

    He said that the step being taken by the management was important because the Federal Government would not be part of the funding. The investors will bring in their money and TCN will pay them back within an agreed period.

    Abubakar said the TCN wheels out 4662Mw and has capacity for 5300Mw.Although the company can transmit 4662Mw and has capacity to wheel out more, it has to prepare for more power generation and shouldn’t wait for the government before taking steps to achieve that. This is why  management seeks private sector investment.

    To achieve 8,000Mw transmission capacity, TCN needs an investment of about N15 billion yearly over the next three years, he added.

    He said: “We are looking at a minimum of about N15 billion yearly over the next three years if we should be able to achieve the 8,000Mw. Therefore, with regard to the investor financing scheme (IFS), we have just shortlisted investors from within and abroad that are interested in the project. “We have over 30 of them that we feel will be able to deliver on some projects that they have chosen. I cannot tell you the names of the shortlisted investors for now until the deal is sealed and delivered. We are trying to see that they are capable technically and financially because once they come in; they are expected to execute the project themselves with the funding they are able to galvanise from either externally or within the country.

    “We have shortlisted them and we are in the process of coming up with a framework from which they can recover their investment with time. Since the Federal Government will not give them sovereign guarantee, we are coming up with modalities of repayment from the wheeling charges from our internally generated revenue over a period of time. It has not been finalised. We are still working to get all the support that is needed from the government for us to be able to achieve this.”

    He said internally generated revenue is  part of the moneyTCN collected from the customers by the distribution companies, noting that considering the quantum of power generated, TCN’s portion of the collection will be substantial enough to sustain its operation and pay back to the investors in the project.

    On the level of funding from the government, Abubakar said funding has not improved considering the fact that a lot of projects are in the pipeline, which need to be funded and because of the present situation, there is need for additional funding even from what the firm used to have. ‘’We are making all efforts to ensure that we bring funds outside appropriation of government. We have investors who are ready to come in and participate in our investor financing scheme. The scheme is still at preliminary stage but as soon as we finalise it, we will have investors who are willing to put in their funds to develop our transmission infrastructure. We also expect more funding from the Federal Government to be able to achieve the mandate we have set for ourselves to improve on the transmission capacity,” he said.

    Abubakar also explained reason for the improved power supply being experienced. He said generation has improved because gas supply has improved tremendously to generating stations and have been able to generate the highest ever peak in July of 4662Mw. “Our transmission capacity is a bit above that. We are capable of transmitting 5300Mw at the moment. But as generation is improving, we are expected to expand our transmission capacity to be able to evacuate the extra capacity being generated at the station for distribution companies to use. I can assure you that we have our plan, our project that are very critical has been mapped out so that within the shortest possible time, we will be able to reach 8000Mw transmission capacity, by end of 2016.

    “We have never transmitted more than 5000Mw to the customers due to many factors. When you generate, you transmit and utilise in the distribution, the distribution arm has to be ready to receive the quantum of power that has been generated. But I must tell you that transmission is capable of wheeling out 5,300Mw from generation down to distribution. It is only what the distribution companies can collectively take that is what is wheeled as the maximum energy at any given time.”

  • 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.

  • Power transmission hits 4545MW

    Power transmission hits 4545MW

    The Management of Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) Tuesday announced   that the nation has achieved a new electricity transmission peak of 4545MW through its national network.

    A statement by TCN Management, signed by the General Manager, Public Affairs, Seun Olagunju, said the feat was achieved at 21.45hrs on Monday.

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

    It will be recalled that TCN Management had, only last week, informed the general public that electricity wheeling to the Distribution companies has improved to over 4000MW due to improvement in fuel supply to the power generation plants.

    TCN assures 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 Distribution companies nationwide.

    “Expanding this support both bilaterally with the individual countries and to the Multinational Joint Task Force, which the Lake Chad Basin countries and Benin are in the process of standing up to coordinate their counter Boko Haram campaign,” the statement said.

     

  • NERC may approve new tariff for TCN

    NERC may approve new tariff for TCN

    THE Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC)  may approve a cost-reflective tariff for the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN).

    Its Chairman, Dr. Sam Amadi, who broke the news said as soon as the government reforms the corporate governance of the TCN, it would have cured its lack of investaible fund and guaranteed sustainable expansion of transmission services in the country.

    Amadi said: “Once we reform the corporate governance of TCN and provide it with a cost-reflective wheeling charge, then we have cured its perennial lack of investible fund and guaranteed sustainable expansion of transmission services.”

    He said the commission is planning radical solutions to tackle the transmission challenges in the electricity market, adding that plans are underway for government to unbundle the TCN into two distinct firms: Transmission Service Provider (TSP) and Independent System Operator (ISO).

    “We have already secured a technical paper on this and the commission has the commission has asked its internal technical committee to undertake comparative jurisdictional research to compare models from similar and different electricity markets across the world.

    “After the report of the committee we will conduct public consultation to ascertain the views of other stakeholders. Our mind is drifting towards having a non-profit ISO to be jointly owned and funded by all generators and distributor in the market.

    “This saves government from using its public sector borrowing or budget to fund expansion in transmission services. Everything will be financed by the market and there will still be no service failure. That is one the benefits of some of NERC’s bold interventions. They are creating financial viability and service improvement with less and less of public sector financing. This is a huge relief in these days of lean revenue.”

    According to him, following the commercially attractive gas price and the flag-off of the Transition Electricity Market (TEM) that now makes all electricity market value chain bankable, the suppliers will now enter into gas supply agreements that make it mandatory for them to supply gas.

    With the contracts, said the chairman, the suppliers would become liable should they refuse to supply gas.

  • TCN fails to evacuate 70.55Mw

    Of the 3,175.95megawatts (Mw) of electricity the Electricity Generation Companies (Gencos) produced, the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) could only wheel  3,104.50Mw to the Electricity Distribution Companies (Discos), leaving 70.55Mw stranded in transmission, it was learnt yesterday.

    The Minister of Power, Prof. Chinedu Nebo said  the TCN has capacity to wheel  5,500Mw of electricity.

    The Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry (NESI), according to the Ministry of Power, which made this known on its website as record of the market as at April 19, hit a peak power generation of 3,496.2Mw last Sunday

    In its penultimate statistics of April 12, the Ministry said energy sent out to the Discos was 2,988.72Mw, which showed that power supply increased by 11.578Mw in the period under review.

    Power generation that was 3,060.37Mw on April 12 rose by 115.58Mw in the current statistics while peak energy generation that was 3,263.6Mw increased by 232.6Mw to a peak of 3,496.2Mw.

    Nebo described stranded energy as technical losses, which according to him, are inevitable.

    His words:  “The problem is losses along the line. That is actually the reason we have transformers, we have substations and so on. It goes through electro circuitry that makes it easier for power that was coming in that was losing amperage and voltage to be ramped up again as it passes through the sub-station  to the lines, gets to the transformers and the smaller transformers and the smaller lines and so on.

  • TCN records 73.48Mw evacuation gap

    Of the   3,734.55Mega Watts (MW) which the Electricity Generation Companies (Gencos) produced  on February 22, 2015, the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) could only send out 3,661.07MW, resulting in a wheeling gap of 73.48MW.

    But Minister of Power, Prof. Chinedu Nebo had last month said that TCN has a capacity of 5,500MW.

    The Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry (NESI), said the Federal Ministry of Power that made this disclosure on its website yesterday, hit a peak power generation of 3,874.5MW in the period under review.

    Following the statistics of  February 17, 2015 that showed a power transmission of 3,424.11MW, the current energy sent out by the TCN  increased by 236.96MW.

    Generation which was 3,494.96MW on February 17, 2015,  rose by 239.59MW within five days.

    The  Genco produced 3,494.96MW in the penultimate statistics with an evacuation gap of 70.85MW gap that the TCN could not wheel to the Discos.

    The  market hit a peak generation of 3,768.2MW .

    NESI had on February 10, 2015, sent out 2,869.84MW to the Discos for onward distribution to the customers.