The acting Managing Director of the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), Engr. Sule Ahmed Abdulaziz, has said the company is determined to improve power transmission across the country as it has commissioned two bulk power transmission projects since he assumed office in May 2020, with five others ready soon.
Abdulaziz who disclosed this at a briefing in Abuja, said the company under the new management team was doing a lot towards advancing the national grid. He also noted that the TCN is also addressing the problem of grid collapse.
“Recently, we commissioned the Gagarawa substation and another project, and more are coming. They include Ogba and Ikeja West in Lagos, Akure, Katsina substation are coming.
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“Our main function is to transmit electricity from generation to distribution and so we need to have a robust grid. So our priority is to ensure that all ongoing projects are completed.”
He noted that he had studied some of the issues with the delayed projects and they are being fixed.
“Some of the issues were right of way, import clearance and contract variation; there is also the issue of developing staff capacity. We need to train them.
“With the support of the Minister of Power, we are getting approval for funds to complete projects. We have also been liaising with the ministry of finance to clear the import duty exemption certificate to bring in stranded equipment.”
He also said some of the projects have been delayed for over 10 years and things have changed, so fresh negotiations have been done. “We negotiated with them and agreed on variations and so the works are now ongoing,” said Abdulaziz.
Speaking on the recent grid collapse, he said, “The recent system collapse was swiftly restored. We first restored Abuja and within 40 minutes, the entire grid was restored.
“For six months, there has not been any system collapse. Within these six months, we have made a lot of achievements.”
