Dec. 6, 2023

The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) on Wednesday said it has completed over 80 per cent of the power project under the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) N123 billon intervention in power sector.

Mr. Matthew Ajibade, the Programme Manager, TCN, Lagos disclosed this during the inspection of different projects under the intervention in Lagos.

Some stakeholders that inspected the projects include top management staff of CBN, staff of Eko Electricity Distribution Company, Ikeja Electric and TCN staff.

According the Ajibade, 53 contracts across the entire Discos in Nigeria were approved by CBN in August 2022, with sum of N122.29 million for intervention in the nation’s power sector.

“These projects were identified by the stakeholders to address the transmission and distribution bottleneck in order to allow seamless evacuation of power from generation to distribution network.

“So, the project were conceived about two years back through open competitive procurement process that led to the award of 53 contracts to different contractors.

“We are here, today, for the inspection of those projects and consignments that have already arrived in some selected sites.

“We plan to deliver this project before the set deadline date.

“The project itself is in two categories, some are supply contracts and we have others that are Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC).

“So far, 80 per cent of the projects have been completed and we are sure that by May, 2024, we will have completed all the projects here in Lagos,” he said.

Ajibade said that the reason for the inspection was to show the whole world that the project are not abandoned as thought.

“We have done several factory inspection visits to test some of those transformers, especially those that have already arrived. We are here today to inspect them.

“The objective of this intervention is to address all these bottlenecks between transmission and distribution and at the same time, to enhance the social economy activities of the country.

“CBN intervention is Naira denominated and all the contractors are all local contractors. They are all registered in Nigeria,” he said.

The programme manager said that the expected impacts of the projects all were to add 1,500 Megawatts to the power, adding that these would be at different levels on each distribution companion.

“We are expecting a great improvement in nation’s power sector as there will be adequate capacity available for the Discos to wheel power to their network from the transmission network,” he said.

Responding, Mr. AbdulRazaq Tumba, the Assistant Director and Head, Infrastructure Finance Office, CBN, said he was impressed with the level of works on the projects.

“In Isolo Transmission Station, we could see that the job is over 70 per cent completed, just awaiting the equipment from TCN for installation.

“In Ojo station, we can also see 100 per cent achievement. The two requested transformers, with accessories, have been supplied. The only one left will be deployed to other site,” he said.

Tumba said that the purpose of the projects was to improve power supply and address some of the critical economic issues within the country.

“The projects are timely and when completed, millions of Nigerians across the nation will benefit not only the electricity, but also the locals who have been employed locally to work.

“It will also boost economical activities, as there’ll be more cash in the system going round, and there’ll also be more manufacturing tools being produced within the country.

“As you can see most of these equipment are been done locally, except the heavy ones, which we don’t have the components here in Nigeria.

“About 90 per cent of the components for these projects are produced locally. (NAN)