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Tag: Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN)

  • TCN will complete over 200 electricity projects, says Fashola

    TCN will complete over 200 electricity projects, says Fashola

    The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) will complete over 200 projects to improve power supply to the distribution companies (DISCOs), Mr Babatunde Fashola, Minister of Power, Works and Housing, said on Wednesday.

    Fashola made this known in a keynote address at the Nigeria Energy Forum (NEF) in Lagos, entitled: “Roadmap for Incremental, Stable and Uninterrupted Electricity Supply in Nigeria’’.

    He was represented by Mr Louis Edozie, the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Power.

    According to him, currently, TCN is concentrating on completing over 200 projects it has at hand to ensure smooth transmission of energy to the national grid.

    “Electricity is a very topical subject in the country; lack of it affects production, security, comfort and standard of education.

    “If all of us will draw all energy needs from the grid, we will need over 13,000 Megawatts (MW), but unfortunately, the maximum we have from the grid is just 4,700MW.

    “This is not what we want and this is not where we want to be.

    “The government inherited a very weak transmission; throughout 2016, there was a challenge of energy evacuation in Eastern part of the country.

    “This evacuation problem which had been on for over 15 years in Calabar, Ikot-Ekpene, Alaoji, Ugwuaji Transmission Line had been addressed and the transmission is now in operation,’’ Fashola said.

    He said that the transmission line would aid the smooth evacuation of energy generated by power plants in the Eastern part to the national grid.

    Fashola said that the Federal Government was concentrating on legacy generation projects inherited from the past administration.

    He said that such project include the small, but important 1.2 MW Solar Power Plant in Lower Usuma Dam, Bwari, Abuja, which is the first solar project in the country.

    The minister said that the project was now in operation, powering some parts of Abuja metropolis.

    “The 10MW Wind Dam in Kastina, which has been under construction for many years, will soon be completed and commissioned for operation.

    “The 30MW Phase 1 project at Gurara Hydro Power Plant in Kaduna, which had been abandoned, will also be commissioned next year and this will boost supply to Kaduna and Jebba.

    “The work is ongoing to ensure smooth transmission line of the energy to the grid.

    “Also, the 700 MW Zungeru Hydro Electric Power Plant, which had been abandoned several years back, will be completed by early 2019 and connected to the grid,’’ Fashola said.

    The minister said that work had begun on the 3,050MW Hydro Electric Power Plant in Mambilla, Taraba which was conceived about 42 years ago.

    “It is through the intervention of President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration that the project was redesigned.

    “The project will be delivered in 2024,’’ he said.

    Also, Prof. Jidere Bala, the Director-General, Energy Commission of Nigeria (ECN), said that energy worldwide was one of the drivers of economic and social development.

    Bala said that there was no way poverty could be eliminated without reliable energy supply.

    According to him, energy supply must, however, be done in a responsible and sustainable manner.

    “These involve energy security, energy equity and environmental sustainability,’’ he said.

    In his remarks, Mr Dele Ayodele, the Deputy Managing Director, Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company (IBEDC), said that some of the challenges facing the power sector include technical and commercial losses.

    Ayodele said that technical and commercial losses were core issues that bedeviled the sector from performing its responsibility to consumers.

    He said that if the issues were not resolved, it would continue to linger on.

    In his address, the Chairman of NEF, Dr Daniel Adeuyi, said that the forum would enable the participants to exchange knowledge, build capacity and foster innovation in Nigeria’s energy supply industry.

    Adeuyi said no nation could develop in the dark, adding that sustainable energy was the passport to economic development.

    “Across Africa, the key energy challenge is how to electrify millions of households, remote communities and small-scale entrepreneurs as quick as possible,’’ he said.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that theme of the forum is: “Sustainable Energy for Economic Development’’.

  • National electricity grid improves – TCN

    National electricity grid improves – TCN

    The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), says the deployment of Free Governor Control mechanisms by Power Generation Companies (GenCos) in their power plants has resulted in an improved national grid stability and reliability.

    The Interim Managing Director of the TCN, Mr Usman Mohammed, said this in a statement by Mrs Seun Olagunju, TCN’s General Manger, Public Affairs, in Abuja on Thursday.

    Mohammed explained free governor mechanism as a device that automatically adjusts the rotational speed of the turbine and the power generation output.

    “The free governor is an important controller in the power plant as it regulates the turbine speed and power movement in the grid frequency regulation.’’

    Mohammed said the device, deployed on May 22 by the GenCos, was in compliance with the national grid code.

    According to him, the grid system frequency had been within the operational limits of 49.50 – 50.50Hz, with the potential of drastically reducing incidences of high frequency and system collapse.

    “This is a remarkable milestone achievement in the history of the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry”, he said.

    Mohammed commended the collaborative efforts and sense of patriotism displayed by the managements of GenCos, noting that the mechanism would also mitigate the negative effects of load under-utilisation.

    He reassured the general public of TCN’s commitment and determination to work with other key stakeholders in the power sector to provide more quality electricity supply to the people.

  • Eligible customers: TCN assures Gencos of 6,000MW

    Eligible customers: TCN assures Gencos of 6,000MW

    …Power generators awaits new framework for tariff

     

    Following the recent permission for eligible customers to buy electricity directly from the electricity generation companies ( Gencos), the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) has assured the power producers of the capacity to transmit 6,000Mega Watts ((MW).

    The Executive Secretary, Association of Power Generation Companies (APGC), Barrister Joy Ogaji, made this disclosure to journalists in Abuja Wednesday.

    According to her, the TCN has always recorded stranded 2,000MW that is readily available for eligible customers.

    She explained that power for eligible customers will not in any way affect residential customers that are willing to pay for power since the sector will simply resort to sending out the stranded 2,000MW.

    Ogaji revealed that by this week, the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission will come up with a framework on the provision of electricity for eligible customers.

    She noted that the Gencos are owed nearly N600billion, while they are in turn owing gas producers N200billion. This, she said, has degenerated to a situation of cash and carry gas that has further culminated in the shutdown of some of the power plants.

    Commending the Federal Government on the permission for eligible customers to get power directly from Gencos, she recalled that “over three years after privatization, the 11 distribution companies have enjoyed the monopoly of bulk power purchase and are still unable to distribute and account properly for power purchased and distributed, while we have Gencos stakeholders, who are potentially competitive entities, waiting desperately to sell more power as well as end users willing to buy more power for residential, commercial and industrial use.”

    She also noted that the declaration does not in any way spell doom and gloom, stressing that Gencos can now sell power to suppressed load centres there by making up dwindling revenue and pay their gas suppliers.

    Customers, according to her, now have the permission to cooperate amongst themselves providing the enabling environment and infrastructure to be classified as “eligible customers.”

    She said that the idea means investing in the right infrastructure such as meters, power lines transformers and electrical switch gears.

    Ogaji submits that the declaration “portends several benefits for the sector as it will also address some of the liquidity and revenue shortfall in the sector as guaranteed cash flow will definitely boost the morale for potential investors in the area of gas field development, power generation capacity and also in the manufacturing industry with assurance of constant power supply to meet production demand.”

  • Stakeholders give measures to reduce energy sector’s challenges

    Stakeholders give measures to reduce energy sector’s challenges

    Stakeholders in the nation’s power sector have identified measures to reduce the challenges inherent in the power sector.

    They identified the measures in a communique at the end of an interactive forum organised by the Market Operator, an arm of the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN).

    The communique issued in Abuja on Monday was jointly signed by Mr. Sola Adeyegbe of Ibadan Generating Company (GENCO), Mr. Kabiru Adamu of TCN and Emeka Akpara of Omotosho Electric Power Plc.

    The communique said that the GENCOS had the capacity to generate 8,500MW of electricity for the country.

    The GENCOs, however, called for an improvement in transmission and distribution capacity to accommodate their envisaged generation.

    It said that the GENCOs also called for centralisation of market collection and appropriate disbursement based on the agreed percentages.

    According to the communique, the GENCOs and Service Providers have called for the declaration of eligible customers in the nation’s power sector.

    They also advocated for the denomination of gas price in Naira with the DISCOs calling for harmonisation of currency for all transactions in the market.

    It said that the GENCOs also demanded for the payment mechanism for their outstanding N504 billion owned it by the sector players.

    According to the communique, the DISCOs advocate for the implementation of the last tariff review.

    The DISCOs called for immediate payment of Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) outstanding debts to improve liquidity in the market.

    It further said that the DISCOs made case for provision of subsidy in the market to support purchase of power from the GENCOs.

    According to the communique, the service providers recommended the formation of a metering company to manage both trading and consumers metering to ensure standards and efficient deployment of meters in the industry.

    It said that the Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading Company (NBET) should be empowered to fulfill its mandate of bridging the revenue shortfall in the electricity market.

    It resolved that the Transmission Service Provider (TSP) should have a clear service level agreements with DISCOs and GENCOS for effective service delivery.

    The Market Operator and Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) should be mandated to enforce full compliance of the market rules and sanction the noncompliance by defaulting stakeholders.

     

  • Eko Disco announces five-day power outage in Lagos

    Eko Disco announces five-day power outage in Lagos

    Electricity supply would be disrupted in many parts of Lagos this week as Eko Electricity Distribution Company (EKEDC) on Monday announced five days power outage in the city.

    EKEDC spokesman, Godwin Idemudia, said in a statement that the outage would affect Ikoyi, Victoria Island and parts of Lagos Island from Wednesday to Sunday.

    Idemudia said that the outage was to enable maintenance crew from the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) address technical and maintenance issues at Alagbon transmission station.

    “We want to inform our esteem customers that from Wednesday, May 24 to Sunday, May 28, there will be an outage within Ikoyi, Victoria Island and parts of Lagos Island.
    “This is to enable TCN maintenance crew resolve some technical issues within Alagbon transmission stations,’’ EKEDC said.
    The EKEDC spokesman said that the company highly regretted any inconveniences caused by the five-day outage.
    He promised that supply would be restored to the affected areas as soon as the maintenance was successfully completed.

  • TCN announces nine percent improvement 

    TCN announces nine percent improvement 

    The Market Operator of the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) has announced a 9 percent improvement in energy delivered to DisCos from the Transmission Company of Nigeria for the month of February, as compared to January.

    A communique on the 14th meeting Ministry of power sectoral meeting that made this known yesterday said that the Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola urged electricity customers to play their role in the success of the industry, through the timely payment of bills, ending the vandalism of power assets, and the assault of electricity workers who seek to install or read meters. Federal Government had started by the payment of an initial tranche of =N=374,551,000 to Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC) for outstanding MDA debts at the Federal Secretariat, Abuja.

    The meeting was held in National Control Centre, Osogbo.

    The Governor of Osun State, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola and the Deputy Governor of the State, Otunba Grace Titilayo Laoye-Tomoriwere also present.

    The meeting focused on identifying, discussing, and finding practical solutions to critical issues facing the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry.

    The operators were fully represented at the highest executive management levels, including a Commissioner of the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), Managing Directorsand CEOs of Generating Companies (GenCos), Distribution Companies (DisCos), and the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), as well as various government agencies such as theNiger Delta Power Holding Company (NDPHC), the Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trader (NBET), Nigerian Electricity Liability Management Company (NELMCO) and Nigerian Electricity Management Services Agency (NEMSA) responsible for the regulation and development of the electricity industry.

    The Managing Director, Transmission Company of Nigeria, highlighted the issue of unutilized load (previously described as load rejection) currently causing high system frequency on the national grid, and encouraged the industry to take necessary steps to address the problem. TCN restated its commitment to expand transmission infrastructure and improve its operation and performance within the power sector value chain.

    The Vice Chairman, Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission affirmed the Federal Government’s expressed commitment to tariffs that ensure a self-sustaining power sector and to supporting NERC in applying sanctions where appropriate to ensure operators comply with the rules. NERC highlighted the recently reconstituted commission’s focus on fair but firm regulation in the following areas: enforcing DisCo metering commitments, prepaid meters for MDAs, centralised management of market revenues collected from all customers, appropriate capitalisation of DisCos, and prudent procurement.

    Minister emphasized that the purpose of the NESI is to ensure that citizens can access power safely, reliably, and consistently and that it must remain committed to ensuring the achievement of these objectives:

    NERC was tasked with ensuring fair play for consumers and providers within the sector.

    The Minister reiterated that the Federal Government is committed to its responsibilities in the power sector, through policies such as the Power Sector Payment Assurance Guarantee to ensure liquidity stability in the sector so that generating companies are paid for their services.

    He also stated that all stakeholders remain committed to their various roles in supplying and distributing power to ensure that the power sector functions effectively.

    The Governor of Osun state acknowledged the gradual improvement of electricity supply especially in Osun State which hosts the National Control Centre. Acknowledged the importance of the Power Sector Recovery Plan as critical to ensuring accountability for losses, improving customer service, customer accessibility, safety, and performance in the sector.

    The meeting received confirmation from Independent System Operator (ISO) that the intention of Paras Energy (a private generating company) to sell 60MW internationally will not jeopardize the power purchased by the Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trader (NBET) for use in the domestic market.

    NDPHC provided updates on host community connections in Egbema, and announced significant progress on Oronta and Omotosho which were previously limited by funding challenges. Progress was also announced on reconnecting Magboro community, subject to safety checks by the Nigerian Electricity Management Services Agency (NEMSA). Olorunsogo Power also stated that funding of road repairs in the host community has also been approved.

    TCN presented a report on the problem of unutilized load on the grid and committed working closely with the DisCos to eliminate the occurrence of the problem.

    Market Operator (TCN) announced a 9% improvement in energy delivered to DisCos from the Transmission Company of Nigeria for the month of February, as compared to January. Ikeja and Yola DisCos showed improved remittance to the Market Operator for services rendered in the month of February.  The Market Operator encouraged sector participants to fulfil all their obligations to ensure the success of the Power Sector Recovery Plan.

    NEMSA presented a report on its investigation of various customer complaints especially complaints related to the integrity of meters. The meeting acknowledged incidents of insider malpractice and the negative impact on customers and agreed on the need for vigilance to eliminate such cases.

    TCN presented a brief on ongoing works to address specific challenges and limitations around the country. TCN acknowledged the delay in replacing the damaged 60MVA transformer at Katampe which caused prolonged load shedding and poor service in parts of Maitama, Wuse II and Jabi in Abuja.

    NERC reported on stakeholder performance for 2016.  DisCos were ranked based on metering progress, NBET and MO remittance, amongst other indicators. Eko DisCo was ranked as the best performing Distribution Company, while Kaduna DisCo was ranked as the lowest.

    Okpai (Thermal Plant) and Jebba (Hydro Plants) were ranked as the best performing in their respective categories, based on indicators such as percentage availability and reporting compliance.

     

  • Discos to FG save us from forex black marketers 

    …Blames power outage on transmission constraints

     

    The association of Nigerian electricity distributors (ANED) Director of Research and Advocacy, Bar. Sunday Oduntan Wednesday called on the Federal Government to save the DisCos from the hands of black marketers of foreign exchange (forex).

    He urged the government to direct the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to give priority to the power sector operators in order to save them from purchasing dollars from the black market.

    His words: “we have been calling on the Federal Government to get the CBN to give us priority, so that we don’t have to go to the black market to buy dollar. So the one that is going on now, is beneficial to us. If dollar improves against the dollar it will benefit the DISCO’s”

    Citing an example with metering, Oduntan said that “we have about 2.9m customers yet to be metered ,and if you look at the amount of money required to do that even at the minimum of N53,000 per meter , it can be more than that now because of forex issue. If forex goes down it can still go below that 53,000 that means we need billions of naira to take care of that”.

    According to him, the government needs to do more to fix the power sector as that is the only way to fix the economic situation of the country.

    Oduntan blamed the constant power outage on transmission bottleneck, noting that areas like Apo, Central Area, Katampe and Gwagwalada are experiencing power outage, owing to defective facilities of the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN).

    Oduntan, however said that instead of simply blaming the situation on the TCN, he would rather urge the Federal Government to strengthen it for efficiency through sufficient investment.

    According to him, the Federal Government needs to urgently and critically support the entire value chain, in order to make the Nigeria Electricity Supply Industry (NESI) profitable or commercially viable.

    He said “N701 billion intervention fund is a good start but without a holistic resolution and details of how the intervention will work, we will not make progress, that is our reaction to that intervention. There must be a holistic resolution for the whole value chain from the upstream to downstream.so that for me in the downstream side of the sector, if I am buying a product at the rate of N68 and I am only allowed to sell it for N31.50,there is no way it can be commercially viable”. He added that the support needs to go down not just the GENCOs.

    He appealed to the general public to pay their bills, adding that electricity theft has remained one of the factors weighing down the efforts of the DISCos adding that the association appeals to the National Assembly to consider passing an anti-electricity theft bill, and create mobile courts to formally prosecute energy thieves.

    He called on the key players in the energy sector, to adopt “SCADA” a technology which according to him, can help monitor the activities of power facilities nationwide.

     

  • Ikorodu communities decry 14 days power outage

    Electricity consumers in some communities in Ikorodu Local Government Area of Lagos State, on Thursday complained of living in darkness for 14 days due to power outage.

    The consumers told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that the affected communities include Erunwen, Grammar School, Solomade, and Kokoro Abu.

    Mr Karimu Adisa, a resident of Kokoro-Abu, said the outage had paralysed commercial and domestic activities in his community.

    He said that the lack of power was unbearable; adding that it was the first time the area is experiencing such long outage.

    “This outage is uncalled for because my community is not under those that were listed as going to be on outage due to maintenance work by Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN).

    “We have been in darkness without any tangible reasons from Ikeja Electric.

    “It would have been better if our community is among those that are on outage due to maintenance work by TCN technical crew but we are not.

    “We believe this is the actual time to enjoy electricity supply because power generation has increased.

    “We are appealing to officials of Ikeja Electric to get to the root of the problem and restore power supply,’’ Adisa said.

    Mrs Funke Ige, a frozen food seller at Solomade, Ikorodu said that the outage had affected her business such that customers no longer patronised her.

    “I am spending close to N3,000 daily to fuel my generator in order to ensure that my frozen food is fresh and actually frozen.

    “In spite of this extra expenditure I cannot increase the price of my goods because customers will not patronise me.

    “We are selling at a loss due to the outage, IE should come and fix our electricity, we are going through hell here,’’ Ige said.

    Also, Mr Johnson Isaac, a resident of Erunwen, described the services offered by the company in the area as poor.

    He said that communities in Ikorodu no longer enjoyed power supply since the privatisation of the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN).

    “The purpose of power sector privatisation has been defeated because since Nov. 1, 2013 electricity supply has not been regular.

    “IE officials are just extorting money from consumers without providing commensurate supply.

    “Our area has been cut-off from the grid without reasonable explanation still they will send their officials at the end of the month to distribute bills without electricity supply.

    “This is injustice and we are waiting for them,’’ Isaac said.

    When contacted, Mr Felix Ofulue, the Head of Ikeja Electric Corporate Communications, said that the company was not aware of the outage in the area.

    Ofulue, however, said that a technical crew would be sent to the communities to identify the fault and restore power supply to the area.

    He apologised to consumers in the area for the outage, assuring them that power would soon be restored to their communities.

     

  • Association expresses concern about FG’s N701bn Power Intervention Fund

    The Association of Nigerian Electricity Distributors (ANED) says the N701 billion Power Intervention Fund by the Federal Government has the potential to worsen revenue shortfalls bedeviling the power industry.

    The ANED Executive Director, Research and Advocacy, Mr Sunday Oduntan, said on Sunday in Lagos that the fund was a partial solution to the sector’s liquidity challenges.

    NAN reports that on March 2, the Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Mr Raji Fashola, announced that the Federal Government had approved N701 billion as “Power Assurance Guarantee” for the Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading.

    According to the minister, this is to make payments to the Generating Companies (GENCOs) and gas suppliers for energy supplied and future supplies of gas and energy.

    Oduntan said, though, the fund was a welcome development, it, however, had the potential of exacerbating the revenue shortfalls that the market was suffering from.

    He said the fund would solve the N300bn energy supply liabilities, rehabilitate and replace faulty or old turbines and pay for the supply of gas.

    “As commendable as this intervention fund is, we believe that it is a partial solution to the liquidity challenges of the sector.

    “While an increase in electricity supply is everyone’s desired objective, such an increase without the requisite full recovery of costs via the appropriate pricing of power, means a resultant worsening of the market revenue gap,” the ANED director said.

    He said that he believed that the approved intervention was not expected to be a subsidy to the market but the proposed funding would eventually be recovered from the Electricity Distribution Companies (DISCOs) customers.

    According to Oduntan, funding the transmission network is imperative for the Federal Government’s proposed intervention to work.

    “The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) needs to have the required capacity to wheel the additional power being generated for such recovery to occur,

    “Increased generation without commensurate wheeling capacity arising from a stable and robust transmission grid will result in stranded capacity and significant lost revenues.

    “From the little details made available to us, the historical shortfall does not seem to have been addressed within this initiative.

    “This is imperative as the DISCOs need to be able to make the necessary investments in network upgrades, improved customer service, billing and collections, metering, all of which have been major issues in the industry.

    “Such investments will not happen unless the DISCOs make the projected annual revenue requirements, which enables access to finance for the required capital expenditure (Capex).

    “Access to such financing is predicated on appropriate pricing of the retail tariff.

    “The growing working capital debt on the DISCO’s books less any amount to be paid under the intervention, will also continue to impede DISCOs’ ability to fund retail distribution from Capex requirements,’’ he said.

    The ANED chief said it was essential to use this period to appropriately allocate all the risks in the electricity value chain.

    He said this included the need to address the issues of access to foreign exchange and security of gas pipelines.

    Oduntan said that regulatory certainty and consistency continued to be the foundation for enabling and promoting the commercial conditions that would ensure a viable and sustainable Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry (NESI).

    He said that though ANED applauded the GENCOs/Gas Supplier-centred intervention, it believed that there was an urgent need for a holistic solution that comprehensively addressed the revenue requirements of the entire electricity value chain.

    “We believe the achievement of the stated objectives of providing confidence to investors for increased supply of electricity with the provision of this intervention will happen at the expense of limited electricity distribution,’’ Oduntan said.

     

  • TCN blames low power sector revenue on DisCos

    …Shops for 60 percent of counterpart fund to complete $200m projects

     
    The Managing Director, Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), Abubakar Atiku, Wednesday blamed the low revenue collection in the power sector on the inefficiency of the electricity Distribution Companies (DisCos).

    Addressing reporters in Abuja, he recalled that the defunct Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) was recording an excess of 60 per cent revenue collection, which the private investors undertook to improve on while acquiring the assets from the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE).

    Stressing that the record of the present DisCos revenue collection is a far cry from what is expected of it, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO), urged the private investors to scale up its collection to match the agreements they signed with the BPE.

    His words: “Discos, they are 100% responsible for deriving the revenue to the electricity market, and they are not living up to expectations. We expect them to be 100% efficient, we know it is not possible but when PHCN was privatized it is on record that the successor companies are doing more than 60% in terms of collection.

    “It was anticipated at the plan of the privatization to see that there is improvement over and above 60%. But what are we witnessing now, lower performance. So distribution companies must step up to live to the expectation they signed with BPE when they bought over these assets.”

    According to him, the major challenge facing the TCN is the problem of liquidity in the electricity market.
    The Managing Director pointed out that payment of TCN services in the market has gone down from 55% to 30% in recent past and with that, funds’ coming to TCN in the form of revenue has reduced.

    “It would interest you to note that TCN is being paid an average of 33% of her total invoice sent to the Market Operator between January and September 2016 which further reduced to 27% in the month of November, 2016,” he said.

    Reacting to issue of load rejection, Atiku noted that while some of the distribution firms were rejecting, others were taking more than their allocation, which in the long run balanced the system and power frequency and neutralized any cause for concern.

    Exonerating the TCN from the cause of load rejection that could have worsened the revenue collection, he said that it is on record that the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) queried the TCN to prove its claim on load rejection, which it has since responded to.

    The TCN boss boasted that the firm has record of power allocation from the System Operator regarding how some of the distribution companies took more than there allocation while some rejected theirs.

    He however noted that the fear of not taking more allocation stemmed from the fact that the commission would fine the DisCos in line with the stipulation of the Multi-Year Tariff Order (MYTO).

    His words: “On the issue of Discos rejecting loan, I will agree with you that some of them reject, some of them take more. If those taking more equal the amount that those are rejecting we will have a balance system. We will not have any cause to bother. But in most cases our frequency goes up more than the tolerable limit.

    “And once System Operator realizes that the frequency is more, that means somewhere somehow load is not taken.  And our records are there. NERC has queried us to substantiate our claim, which we have.

    “We have records by System Operator that any point in time for this and even distribution what it takes.

    Some of them must have taken more at a particular time, and due to micro allocation it us clearly stated that if you take more than your allocation, you will be fined. So, it is not TCN, it is MYTO, which NERC is enforcing that is why they have to pay for that.”

    According to him, the Federal Government has released 98% of the company’s 2016 budgetary allocation, while it hopes to secure more fund from this year’s budget for the completion of 22 critical projects.

    He disclosed that “the Federal Government has also approved the Contractor Financing Model for reinforcement and rehabilitation of projects in TCN. The first tram his for $200million worth of projects.

    The implication of this finance model is that the private contractors or investors can now fund TCN projects and be paid overtime. Although this would lead to the timely completion of projects, Uris however premised on our getting about 60% of Israel invoice paid, which is not the case presently.”

    Announcing that the present power generation into the Nigeria Electricity Supply Industry (NESI) was 3,200Mega Watts (MW), he said that TCN has within the six months of taking over its management from the Manitoba Hydro International improved its transmission capacity from 5,500MW to 6,500MW.

    Following the completion of some of its new projects, the company is expected to increase its wheeling capacity from 6,500MW to 7,200MW by the end of this year.

    The TCN, he said, has introduced dispatching tools which resulted in some more efficient interface with GenCos on one hand and Discos on the other hand and have also sucked in reducing Transmission Loss Factor (TLP) from 8.05% last year to7,82% as at January 2017.

    The CEO noted that this improvement in transmission loss translate to more power to DisCos for the people and about N5billion additional revenue to TCN, however due to poor market performance, impact of these is yet to be felt in terms of financial returns to TCN.