The Transmission Company of Nigeria(TCN) is set to invest a whooping $170m in construction of five new transmission sub-station in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Abuja, in a bid to upgrade electricity transmission in the area.
TCN’s Managing Director, Mr. Usman Gur Mohammed confirmed the reports and said the project would come under the first phase of TCN’s Transmission Rehabilitation and Expansion Plan (TREP) and will be financed by the French development agency – Agence Française de Developpment (AFD).
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Special regulatory cover
“This project will include the construction of substations in Lokogoma, Gwarinpa, Kuje, Apo and Lugbe. Meanwhile the substations will be complemented by the construction of a new electricity transmission route from Lafia in Nasarawa State to Abuja, so as to provide the FCT with added power supply advantage,” said Mr. Usman Gur Mohammed.
Mr. Mohammed also pointed out that TCN would send a complaint to the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) seeking special regulatory cover for its transmission facilities which are often obstructed from the various distribution facilities of electricity distribution companies (Discos) with the aim to stabilize electricity supply to Abuja.
He claimed that TCN had lost some of its transformers to accidents caused by the Discos, because according to him, the Discos are often connected directly to TCN sub-stations instead of to their various injection sub-stations from which they should supply to their network, thus endangering TCN transformers on occasions of electricity accidents.
“Under the grid code, everybody have responsibilities. We have our responsibilities; the distribution companies have their responsibilities. While they fail to invest in their networks, it affects our systems.” He added.
