By Prince Okafor
The Transmission Company of Nigeria, TCN, said it has secured approval from the federal government to invest N72 billion in the distribution networks across the country.
Speaking at the commissioning of a 1x60MVA transformer in Bauchi transmission substation, the Managing Director of TCN, Usman Gur Mohammed, said the investment would enhance the ability of the distribution companies, DISCOs, to pick up load from the TCN.
He stated: “To assist DISCOS in this regard, we approached the federal government and they agreed that the TCN is going to invest in distribution on behalf of Ministry of Power, Works and Housing and we already have N72 billion which has been approved by the Federal Executive Council for this purpose.
“Where we discover that we have load and that the load cannot be taken by the Disco, we apply this fund to assist in expanding that network so that it can take the load. The fund is like shareholders’ loan to distribution companies, which they must match or it will be converted to equity.”
Mohammed explained that with the commissioning of the Bauchi transmission substation, power supply is expected to improve in all localities in Bauchi and environs including Ningi, Naborodo and Das Communities among others. He stated that the project would increase the wheeling capacity of the substation from 70MVA to 130MVA, adding that the Jos Distribution Company, JEDCo, is expected to expand its network to ensure that it picks the load.
Continuing, he said: “From June 2017 to date, TCN engineers have installed more than 18 power transformers including the 60MVA 132/33kV power transformer being commissioned today, here in Bauchi Transmission Substation. The new power transformer was installed 100 percent by TCN engineers.
“We are working very hard to create the Transmission Rehabilitation and Expansion Programme (TREP) stage two and that will involve building a line from Calabar to Kano and this has gone very far because we have gotten an organization that will provide us with a grant to do the study. We would continue to do all we can to ensure that the grid continues to grow into a very robust transmission network.”