130 Power Transmission Projects Abandoned Since 2002 – TCN Official

Lagos – Dr Atiku Abubakar, Managing Director,
Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), on
Sunday said that about 130 power transmission
projects have been abandoned across the
country since 2002 due to inadequate funds to
execute them. Abubakar disclosed this at the electricity
customers’ forum organised by the Eko Electricity
Distribution Plc., in Lagos.
He said that the incumbent administration would
ensure the execution of the projects with a view
to enabling the power sector add value to the lives of Nigerians. He said the Omotosho/Egbin 330/11 KVA line ,
which is one of the projects, would be given
priority attention in the 2017 budget.
“We have the capacity to generate 7, 500
megawatts of electricity but we are faced with
issues of gas challenge. “The country power generation hovers between
3,000 megawatts and 3,300 megawatts due to
challenge caused by inadequate gas supply,’’ he
said.
Abubakar, however, regretted that the
development could not be attained now causing generation to shrink to about 300 megawatts
due to gas constraint in the country.
According to him, the incumbent government is
determined to turn the challenges to
opportunities which would spur the growth of
the sector. In his remarks, the chairman, House of
Representatives Committee on Power, Mr Daniel
Asuquo, emphasised that the lower chamber was
cooperating with the Federal Government to
ensure the growth of the nation’s power sector.
Asuquo commended the new owners of Eko Electricity Distribution Company on the initiatives
taken to improve the quantity, quality and
reliability of power supply to its customers within
its network despite the shortfall in power
allocation from the national grid.
He said the initiative by the company to source supplementary power through embedded
generation options would guarantee greater
stability of supply. Asuquo said it would also reduce the DISCO’s
Aggregate Technical, Commercial and Collections
Loss, ATC&C; he said and urged the company to
improve on its metering system. He said that Eko Electricity Distribution had
mopped up excess power from existing captive
generation within its licence area and entered
into bilateral agreements with Independent
Power Providers for power generation. This, he said, had enhanced quality service
delivery to its customers, adding that the firm
should improve on its metering of customers. He said that the embedded generation options
being explored by the DISCO would not only
improve revenue collection efficiency, it would
improve its distribution network and overall
performance through the initiative. The Head, Consumer Affairs, Nigerian Electricity
Regulatory Commission (NERC), Mr Hardley Blue-
Jack, assured the agency’s customers of its desire
to make the power sector works through
appropriate regulations which should be strictly
adhered to by both service providers in the sector and the consumers. Also speaking, the Managing Director of Eko
Electricity Plc, Mr Oladele Amoda, said that there
was no visible investment in the power sector 30
years before selling the assets of the successor
companies of the defunct Power Holding
Company of Nigeria (PHCN) to private sector. He also said 70 per cent of the assets were in
dilapidated form when the assets were sold in
2013, adding that investors had actually spurred
the growth of the sector hitherto in spite of the
liquidity challenge. He said his company was desirous of giving its
best to the customers with a view to satisfying
them and providing value addition services.
Amoda added that the company had in the last
three years metered substantial number of its
customers. He said it had also placed order for five hundred
transformers in order to ensure steady supply of
electricity to customers during the Yuletide.
(NAN)