The Nation Newspaper

Tag: TCN

  • Gas shortage may worsen power problem

    Inability of the thermal plants to get enough gas for operations and its attendant poor power supply will continue for months, unless urgent steps are taken to address the problems, a report from the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) has said.

    The report titled: ‘’ Executive operations summary of the power plants’’ and made available to The Nation, said gas constraints and frequent drop in water level at the hydro power stations are the two factors causing power problems in the country.

    It said the recurrent shortfall in gas and water supply has affected the capacity of the plants to generate enough electricity in recent times.

    The report, which gives a detailed performance of the plants, as well as their production capacity, said a prolonged power problems was in the offing unless maintenance were carried out in many of the plants.

     

    According to the report the plants have on several occasions been on the Off Peak period.

    The report said: ‘’ Kainji’s peak/ off peak is( 113/98 mega watts(Mw); Jebba 344/347; Shiroro 278/170; Egbin 640/637; Sapele 70/70; Afam 43/40; Geregu 133/130; Omotosho118.5/114.8; and Olorunsogo 136.9/ 139.2. Others are Ihovbor 320.3/ 209.6; Okpai 425/420; Afam VI 546/543; and Rivers Independent Power Plant 140/80.

    The report said some of the systems have partially collapsed, while others are not.

    It said: ‘’In 2009, the number of systems that partially collapsed was 20, while those that are completely not functioning was 19. 20 systems partially collapsed in 2010, as against 22 that experienced total collapse. 6 systems partially collapsed in 2012, compared to 13 systems that suffered total collapse. 16 systems collapsed in 2012 while 8 systems partially collapsed. 22 systems completely collapsed in 2013 as against 2 systems that partially collapsed.’’

    The Chairman, Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), Dr Sam Amadi said efforts are being made to solve the gas problems and made the power plants operate at optimal capacity. Amadi said commission and other stakeholders in the power value chain are well of the enormous challenges in the sector and that they are working to address them.

  • FG to fund TCN for improve power transmission

    In order to improve power transmission in the country, the Federal Government has disclosed its readiness to fund the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) stations for the upgrading of their facilities.

    The Chairman, Supervising Board of TCN, Mr. Ibrahim Dahiru Waziri stated this Thursday when he led other members of the board to a facility tour at Ayede sub-station of TCN in Ibadan, Oyo State cpaital.

    The assurance came as an acknowledgment to the request of the TCN Oshogbo General Manager, Mr Vincent Aligwara who had earlier explained that the challenges confronting the organization was majorly funding.

    Waziri who was represented by Peter Apeh (SAN) said:” The challenges confronting our substations are not new to us, but our greatest challenges is inadequate funding.”

    He said the government will work out modalities on how to fund the organization with the private operators who recently took over the company.

    According to him, we admit all the constraints and we shall release funds soon to upgrade all our transmission facilities in order to improve power supply in the country.

    “This is a facility tour of all our subsidiary stations to know their position and proffer permanent solutions to them. We are impressed with what we have seen her so far,” Waziri noted

    He urged the staff of the company to work harder for the achievement of the company’s mandate, stressing that;”You have what it takes to enable TCN achieve its mandate.”

  • FG orders TCN to start distribution of power

    FG orders TCN to start distribution of power

    Towards reducing power outage in the country, the Federal Government Friday directed the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) to take over all completed transmission lines and commence immediate distribution of power.

    According to a statement by the Senior Special Assistant (Media and Publicity) to the Vice President, Umar Sani, the directive was given by Vice President Namadi Sambo during an audience with the Board and Supervising Management of the TCN and other officials of the power delivery sector in the State House, Abuja.

    He told the new Chairman of the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), Ibrahim Dahiru Waziri that the government needs to address three sectors in order to achieve the objectives of adequate power supply.

    The sectors, he said, includes Financing the power sector; Addressing properly the generation, transmission  distribution and development of gas infrastructure for gas supply; and the production of hydro-power plants to meet the planned objectives of the vision 2020:20.

    He noted that there are a lot of challenges, particularly as government is keeping the TCN as a government owned entity which is a new strategy for bringing in Manitoba to manage and transfer technology to local expertise.

    Sambo assured them of government’s continued support and partnership toward achieving the set goals.

    Noting the approvals received by the company, he assured that government will further invest in the TCN.

    He said: “With the existing infrastructure, already a transaction adviser has been appointed and work is ongoing to assess them within a bid to transferring all the transmission investments of the Niger Delta Power Holding Company (NDPHC) with a view of NDPHC being full board members and major investors in the transmission agency”.

    He charged the Ministry of Power to meet and come up with solutions on areas to tackle further in order to forge ahead and directed that all the projects commence simultaneously.

    Speaking earlier, the Chairman, TCN expressed delight at the audience granted him by Vice President Sambo and commended the Vice President’s efforts geared at revamping the power sector which he said clearly manifested in the International Financing Conference on Power.

    He informed the Vice President that the TCN has about 125 key projects at the moment and is keying its company’s goal into the national vision 2020:20 objective to wheel at least 20,000 mw target.

    Lamenting on funding difficulties, he faulted the uninsured status of the company’s infrastructure which exposes them to risks situations in emergencies such as accidents.

    Requesting for adequate funding and a multi-dimensional approach which will be complementary to work towards solving issues of power, he pledged his commitment to ensuring a successful project.

    The Managing Director, NDPHC, James Olotu prayed that the current status and costs of all the NDPHC transmission projects be transferred to the TCN.

    Others present at the meeting included the Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Nigeria Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), Sam Amadi and Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Power, Godknows Igali.

  • TCN needs $7.7b to improve power

    TCN needs $7.7b to improve power

    The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) says it need $7.7 billion to expand and improve the power situation in the country.

    Managing Director Mr Mack kast, in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja yesterday.

    Kast said the TCN was working on a five-year expansion plan aimed at increasing the wheeling capacity to 10 gigawatt (GW) by 2017, 13GW by 2018, 16GW by 2019 and 20GW by 2020.

    “ What we are saying is that in the next five years, we will need about 7.7 billion dollars to expand our infrastructure and significantly improve the power situation in the country,’’ he said.

    He attributed the epileptic power to a drop in gas supply in the country, adding that the generating capacity dropped from 4,000 megawatts to 3,000 megawatts.

    Kast said the electricity supply chain comprised Generation (GENCOs), Transmission (TCN) and Distribution (DISCOs), adding that disruption to any of the segments would lead to epileptic power supply.

    “We have some generation issues, the TCN has the capacity to evacuate all the power being generated right now.

    “The generation capacity right now has dropped to about 3000mw. This keeps fluctuating on a daily basis due to vandalism and gas challenge,’’ he said.

  • TCN needs $7.7b to improve power

    TCN needs $7.7b to improve power

    The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) says it need $7.7 billion to expand and improve the power situation in the country.

    Managing Director Mr Mack kast, in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja yesterday.

    Kast said the TCN was working on a five-year expansion plan aimed at increasing the wheeling capacity to 10 gigawatt (GW) by 2017, 13GW by 2018, 16GW by 2019 and 20GW by 2020.

    “ What we are saying is that in the next five years, we will need about 7.7 billion dollars to expand our infrastructure and significantly improve the power situation in the country,’’ he said.

    He attributed the epileptic power to a drop in gas supply in the country, adding that the generating capacity dropped from 4,000 megawatts to 3,000 megawatts.

    Kast said the electricity supply chain comprised Generation (GENCOs), Transmission (TCN) and Distribution (DISCOs), adding that disruption to any of the segments would lead to epileptic power supply.

    “We have some generation issues, the TCN has the capacity to evacuate all the power being generated right now.

    “The generation capacity right now has dropped to about 3000mw. This keeps fluctuating on a daily basis due to vandalism and gas challenge,’’ he said.

  • TCN incurs N1b losses as 12 towers collapse

    The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) yesterday said it would spend about N1billion to rebuild 12 towers and rehabilitate another one lost to a fire between Sapele and Ughelli in Delta State.

    The firm said in a statement that it has lost one of its 330kV transmission lines from Sapele to Ughelli in Delta State and twelve towers along the line route, to a fire incident caused by a petrol tanker which caught fire between towers 88 and 89 at about 9:42am on Sunday.

    Following the accident, the company, pleaded with vehicle drivers, especially those that hull highly inflammable items such as petrol to drive with care and also to ensure that their vehicles are in good order always, to avoid such massive losses to the company and the nation.

    It pledged to do all it could to reconstruct the 330kV transmission line as quickly as possible to check further losses to the nation.

    The fire caused the melting and snapping of all of the line conductors between the two towers, causing a loss of balance along the transmission line, swinging of towers which resulted in their eventual collapse. Tower 81did not collapse, but was bent by the incident, it said.

    The statement reads: “The loaded petrol tanker which fell and caught fire at Ogborode Junction, near Warri in Delta State, destroyed the 330kV Sapele- Ughelli transmission line and brought down TCN’s towers No 82 to 93 along its route.

  • TCN targets 10,000Mw by 2017

    TCN targets 10,000Mw by 2017

    THE Transmission

    Company of Nigeria

    (TCN) is planning to improve electricity transmission.

    It is targetting 10,000 megawatts (Mw) by 2017.

    Its Chairman, Mr. Ibrahim Waziri, spoke yesterday when members of the board inspected some projects in Lagos.

    They visited Ikeja West, Ajah and Akanga transmission stations and Egbin Power Generation Company.

    Today, they expected to visit Papalanto and Benin.

    Waziri said the essence of the visit is to enable the board see facts on ground and find ways to improve power supply. He assured that the board would find solution to energy losses.

    He said: “The company is working towards completing over 160 ongoing projects within the country to serve the electricity consumers effectively. We are working towards achieving 10,000Mw Wheeling capacity by 2017, while planning to hit 20,000Mw by 2020.

    “This projection, which is aimed at achieving sustainable power supply in the country, has been at the front burner of the board.”

    He said the country has about 5,000Mw installed generation capacity while about 4,100Mw is being distributed, adding that the transmission has the capacity to wheel 7,000Mw.

    Waziri assured that all projects would be completed, adding that TCN will remain focused on achieving the desired objective of sustainable power supply.

    He said: “Lots of investment had gone into power sector. We are poised to ensure reliable power transmission and equitable distribution to all required distribution companies. Robust human capital is important to the board, and we have assured our staff on prompt and effective human capital development.”

    Waziri said the board was working on engaging state and local governments to sensitise the public against building under the transmission towers.

    He said such illegal structures have challenges for the board. He advised residents under the tower to relocate.

     

  • TCN targets 15,000MW evacuation capacity

    TCN targets 15,000MW evacuation capacity

    • Rolls out 18 priority areas

    The Board of the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) has reviewed its 10,000mega watts(Mw) five-year target to 15,000Mw evacuation capacity. It has also rolled out 18 areas of priorities it intends to pursue over the next few years.

    TCN is under the management contract of Manitoba Hydro International ( MHI).

    TCN board chairman, Ibrahim Waziri, said the firm is to focus on the 18 priorities.

    Among them, according to the overview of the milestone deliverable reports prepared by the MHI, TCN has a five-year plan of rehabilitating and upgrading of the transmission system.

    TCN has also set out to address the base year for all performance measures through a performance benchmark monitoring system which sets out the performance standards for measurement and reporting.

    According to the document obtained yesterday by The Nation, it added that there is a focus on handover of the management to TCN itself or successor firms.

    Therefore, the final priority of the company is a management revision plan of the MHI contract.

    TCN board has also harped on the company’s organisation and human resources with relation to reorganisation of the company and staffing.

    There are also plan, according to the document, to focus on the review of market operating procedures and generation adequacy.

    TCN has targeted the review of the market operating procedures in relation to the trading of wholesale electricity.

    The company has in its priority to focus on system operator (SO) Operating Procedures. It is also to work on ‘Generation Adequacy’.

    TCN is also to focus on Transmission System Provider (TSP) operating procedures and the operating procedures and loss study.

  • DISCOs blame TCN for poor power delivery

    DISCOs blame TCN for poor power delivery

    Some top management staff of the Electricity Distribution Companies (DISCOs) over the weekend blamed the ongoing nationwide epileptic power supply on the inability of the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) to meet energy demands.

    The officials, who pleaded anonymity, gave the blame in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos.

    According to them, most DISCOs have been trapped in poor service delivery by the TCN which has significantly reduced power supply to consumers.

    They alleged that the situation had drastically reduced the revenue base of the DISCOs as well as sabotaging their supply capacities to end users.

    They blamed the development on “poor fault clearance by the transmission company, owing to poor financing and bureaucracy in maintaining some of the equipment.

    “The epileptic power situation has denied most distribution companies huge revenue because it ‘could not claim money for services not delivered to the consumers,” they alleged.

    They said that poor energy supply had made it extremely difficult for the DISCOs to distribute bills and collect money from customers.

    “This situation is very unpleasant for the good image of the DISCOs because most consumers do not know the supply value chain.

    “So, they believe we are not efficient, which is a wrong perception,” they said.

    An official of the TCN who declined to comment, however, said that there were serious faults on the company’s plants.

    He said that the TCN was collaborating with DISCOs to meet the demands of the public.

     

  • TCN employs 522 engineers

    The Lagos Regional Office of the  Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) has employed 522  engineers.

    Speaking in Lagos, Principal Manager of (TCN), Lagos Region, Mr Iwuamadi Charles , said the recruitment was part of TCN’s contribution to reduce unemployment and boost electricity supply.

    He commended the engineers, saying the job was a call to be part of the nation’s transformation programme.

    “You are in the right place. What makes the power industry in Nigeria is transmission. The power industry has come to change and you are the change agents,” he said.

    He urged the engineers to be dedicated, stressing that the nation expected them to move the industry forward.

    “Someone among you will become the head of transmission one day, hence you need to put your heart on it and the sky will be your limit,” he said.

    Deputy Director-General, National Power Training Institute of Nigeria (NAPTIN), Mr Francis Elughi, urged the engineers to show commitment during the two-week training at the institute.

    He said  the training would provide them the practical knowledge of the sector

    He, however, warned that anyone discovered to be unserious with the training would be booted out.