The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) has secured close to $2Bn for the rehabilitation of the national grid infrastructure and expansion of its power transmission capacity. They are targeting up to 20,000 megawatts within the next three years.
The Managing Director, TCN, Usman Gur Mohammed revealed that TCN sought the support of the ministries of Finance, and Power because of the liquidity issue in the power sector. According to him, this led to the raising of the fund from multilateral donors for the expansion of the grid.The funds were obtained from the World Bank, African Development Bank, Islamic Development Bank, Japanese Agency for International Cooperation (JAICA), and the European Union
Also read:Â Nigeria secures funding for power transmission projects
Reviving previous projects
He also spoke about restarting some projects that had not been doing well. The Abuja Transmission Ring Project is one of the projects. It is supposed to put three substations within the capital territory. The project is also going to provide another avenue for supply from Lafia.
The two projects plus the one in the works now are about $1.55Bn. According to Mohammed, the money raised will be used in expansion of the transmission lines across some of the states. They are putting a cord line that will carry 2,400MW capacity. According to Mohammed, Nigeria has never had that kind of capacity.
The Management contract was for an initial period of three years as from 1st August, 2012. However, upon expiration the contract was further extended to 31st July, 2016. The manager was quick to assure the people that the company will not fail them. He also gave them a guarantee on setbacks.
He said the nation currently has stranded load generation of about 2,000MW. This to him, is not healthy for the development of the sector. This is because as time goes on it will hinder investments on the generation system.
