TheNewsGuru

Tag: TCN

  • DisCos lack capacity to meet Nigeria’s electricity demands – TCN

    Power Distribution Companies (DisCos) lack the capacity to meet the nation’s electricity needs, Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) Managing Director Usman Mohammed has said.

    Mohammed, who spoke in Lagos on Monday, said the privatisation process produced weak Discos.

    “Some mistakes were made in the privatisation of the power sector and the mistakes led to very weak companies that succeeded in taking over the DisCos. The law was adjusted to allow bidding companies use technical partners and the partners were not to produce the Managing Directors. This made it easy for companies without capacity to buy the DiScos. The weakness must be corrected by recapitalising the DisCos because when we did the privatisation, we didn’t have the investments commensurate with the distribution network,” he said.

    The TCN boss, however, cautioned against re-purchase of the privatised companies by the government because it would send a wrong signal to foreign investors. Instead, he said, the DisCos must be recapitalised to enhance their capacity. Mohammed expressed regret that the Federal Government has spent N1.5 trillion on the DisCos with little or nothing to show for it.

    The TCN has estimated a DisCo capital requirement of $4.3billion to address capacity shortfalls and enable load growth to keep pace with capacity growth, he explained.

    Mohammed listed other conditions for the DisCos to be able to live up to their responsibilities to include the commencement of bilateral trade, competitive procurement as required by National Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) Investment Regulation 2015, competitive procurement of generation companies, resetting the books of the Discos, proportionate representation on Board of DisCos by the Ministry of Finance and sustenance of Transmission Rehabilitation and Expansion Programme (TREP).

    According to him, the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals classified access to electricity as a standalone goal number 7 because it stands out as the most important infrastructure. He explained that countries with good Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita have uninterrupted electricity supply.

    Mohammed added that the crisis of the Nigeria electricity market was traceable to poor liquidity, lack of sustainable investment, weak national grid with system instability, emergency solution and poor planning. He also faulted the use of single buyer model, explaining that it had never worked anywhere it was adopted.

    He said his administration had recovered 795 of 810 containers containing TCN apparatuses abandoned by contractors at the port. Some, he said, were abandoned for over 15 years.

    Mohammed said with countries like Benin Republic, Chad, Niger, Cameroon, which get their source of power from Nigeria, with uninterrupted supply, the country has no excuse.

    Mohammed said when President Muhammadu Buhari administration came into power, the value chains in the power sector had problems ranging from generation to transmission and distribution.

    “The generation was around 3,500 megawatts just as distribution and transmission capacity was not more than 5,000 megawatts. But, as of December 2018, transmission capacity reached around 8,100 megawatts, which means that there is a significant improvement.

    “Now, the generation capacity is about 7,500 megawatts, which also means significant improvement. So, if you had three things that were not working and you have fixed two, a significant improvement has taken place.

    “With the government’s N72 billion distribution programme being implemented by the Ministry of Power and other interventions, I believe the government is willing to resolve the last line and soon, we will see better results,” Mohammed said.

  • TCN restores power 24hours after national grid collapse

    The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) has said that the national gird has been fully restored after the system collapse which occurred at about 16.15 hours on Thursday, while the grid was recovering from an earlier partial system disturbance.

    Full restoration of the grid was achieved at about 2:19 am, on Friday, said the General Manager, Public Affairs, Mrs Ndidi Mbah in a statement on Friday.

    According to her, the initial disturbance of the grid which occurred at about 12.34pm Thursday was a partial collapse of the system, as the grid was still supplying Port-Harcourt, Aba, Omoku, Yenegoa, Afam among others, through Afam IV, Rivers IPP and Omoku Power Stations.

    The statement added that efforts immediately commenced to synchronize other parts of the network but as restoration reached advanced stage, the situation suddenly degenerated into a collapse of the nation’s grid.

    Mbah said that “Full restoration of the grid re-commenced immediately after the incident and by 10 pm Thursday, most parts of the nation had been reconnected to the grid, at about 2:19 am, however, the grid was fully restored.

    “Management wishes to inform Nigerians that TCN is not relenting in its efforts to completely stabilize the grid.

    “However, due to the fact that the National Grid is still being operated with zero spinning reserve, system instability like what was witnessed yesterday cannot be totally avoided.

    “TCN solicits the support and understanding of Nigerians as the company continues to work to modernize the Grid.”

  • FG budgets $1.61bn for 24-hour power supply

    FG budgets $1.61bn for 24-hour power supply

    The Managing Director, Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), Alhaji Usman Gur says the Federal Government in collaboration with international donor agencies has set aside over 1.61 billion dollars to ensure constant power supply in the country.

    Gur, who is also the Chief Executive Officer of the TCN revealed this on Sunday in Kano while briefing newsmen at the Kumbotso power sub-station.

    According to him, the project will be carried out under the Transmission Rehabilitation Expansion Programme.
    “We are rehabilitating and expanding to degree 20, 000 Mega Watts by 2022 across the country,” he said.

    He noted that, the federal government has already earmarked about N32 billion to compensate Nigerians whose lands, houses and farms could be affected by the Righ-Of-Way to create Power Lines for the execution of the project.

    “The total amount that we are going to pay for compensation across the country is about N32 billion. And the total project cost is 1.61 billion dollars. The project will be supported by various international donors.

    “The compensation for right-of-way from Kumbotso sub-station to Rimi Zagara will cost about N3 billion. We have not completely validated it. The total cost for compensation across the country being provided by the Federal Government, ” he said.

    Gur who is also the chairman of the West African Power Pool (WAPP) Committee Executive Board stated that he led the TCN team to Kano to validate and look at the route that ran from the Kumbotso Transmission sub-station to Rimi Zakara.

    “You know we are going to connect Rimi Zakara to this sub-station (Kumbotso). Rimi Zakara is the place we are putting another 330 KV Sub-station, just like this one in Kumbotso.”

    “The mistake that happened in the past is that we normally award contract for line without doing the study. You know the study will establish who are the people under the right-of-way; and who are those people that are going to be affected by the lines.

    “So, we are supposed to have come up with those people and pay them their compensation.

    “Unfortunately, this contract was awarded many years, even before I came. It is not only this one, many of them are like that. They awarded the contracts without the payment of compensation.

    “That is why now, we are trying to pay the compensation, we are validating it, but we also need to tell people that this takes time, because right now, we have over 1000 people who need to be compensated within Kano alone.

    “That is why I am here, I will go through the routes and see exactly what are in the right-of-way. We are actually collaborating with Gov. Abdullahi Ganduje because some people who have land on the right-of-way are seeking for relocation.

    “We are going to request to the governor to relocate them and give them land in some other places so that we can build the line,” he said.

    According to him, “what we are doing for Kano state, actually is that we are trying to change the game. It is what you call game changer. Right now, the only line that supplies Kano is the 330 Single-Sighted Line that run from Kaduna to Kano.

    “We are bringing a Code Line from Kaduna to Kano. Now, you know we need to get a source of supply to transport the line from Kaduna to Kano. When I came newly in February, 2017, the line between Jos and Kaduna was funded only 10 per cent, but today the line is 98 per cent completed.

    “That means we have bulk power at the double-sighted line apart from the Single-sighted line from Jos to Kaduna. Then from Shiroro to Kaduna, we have two Single-sighted lines; none of them can carry more than 300 Mega Watts.

    “We are taking one of them and we are going to construct it into a Code Line, ” he said.

    He further explained that those projects, particularly, the one from Shiroro to Kaduna, the procurement of that line is about 80 Per Cent completed and it is funded by French Development Agency.

    Gur added that from Kaduna to Kano, TCN is building a Code Line, adding that the public information, this is the first time in the history of Nigeria that TCN is doing 330 Code Line.

    He said this mean it is going to carry, four Conductors per pair, which is expected to bring 2,400 Mega Watts of power.

    “Now, I will also want to tell you that we want to change the game here completely. So, there is a line we are building from Kainji to Birnin Kebbi, Benin Kebbi to Sokoto; and also from Katsina to Daura, Daura to Gwiwa and from Gwiwa to Jogana. That line is also funded by AFD that is French Development Agency.

    “In fact, the line from Katsina to Daura, Daura to Gwiwa, Gwiwa to Jogana is going to evacuate the Solar IPP in Gwiwa which is going to be the like of the Marrakech Solar IPP in Morocco”, Gur assured.

    According to him, on that line, the European Union gave the TCN a grant, which is free money for the Nigerian government, worth about 25 million Euros.

    “Now we are working to close the link between Sokoto to Kaura Namoda, and Kaura Namoda to Katsina. Now, if you complete this line from Kumbotso Sub-station to Rimi Zakara, that line also went to Katsina; which means from Kainji, you can feed Kano through Sokoto, Katsina, Daura and Gwiwa.

    “We also have another line that is coming from Kaduna to Kano. I also want to tell you that we sent a proposal to the West African Power Pool, and it was approved by the Committee of Heads of State and Government on Dec. 22, 2018 where President Muhammadu Buhari chaired that meeting.

    “We have approved another line that will come from Calabar. It will come from Ikon to Ogoja to Kasimbula, to Mambilla,bto Jalingo, down to Yola, and move to Hong, to Biu, to Damaturu, Potiskum, Azare, to Dutse, and then to Jogana in Kano.

    “This is another 330 Double-sighted line. This very line is under what we call multi-national project. This project is under the ECOWAS project.

    He explained that government is working towards launching the study.
    “This is what I have pre-planned before I left Abuja to Kumbotso sub-station here in Kano.

    “This means we are going to have another Double-sighted line that will come to Kano, which means Kano will be supplied from three sources: through Sokoto, through Kaduna, and then through Calabar.

    “When this is done, it then means that we have solved the problem of bulk electricity supply to Kano, and this is what we are doing. And that will place Kano on a status we call MNS2, meaning if 2, 330KV Double-sighted line goes out, Kano will still receive supply of electricity,” he said.

    He added:“however, I will require the support of the people of Kano because all these things we are doing need some level of sacrifices from the good people of Kano state, because definitely, those lines will pass through people’s houses, lands, and farms.

    “Therefore, people have to make sacrifice. When you don’t make sacrifice, there is no way we can solve the problem of electricity.

    “I can tell you that the difference between development and lack of development or the difference between poverty and prosperity in any part of the world is actually electricity; and that is why we are doing all these so that we can solve the problem of electricity in Kano,” he said.

  • Buhari tasks Siemens, TCN, Discos on 11,000 megawatts by 2023

    President Muhammadu Buhari on Monday challenged Siemens, distribution and transmission companies and the electricity distribution company of Nigeria to work hard to achieve 7,000 mega watts by 2021 and additional 11,000 mega watts by 2023 and overall grid capacity to 25,000 megawatts.
    He gave the charge when the Federal Government of Nigeria signed electricity road map agreement with German-based Siemens at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
    The deal is the product of a meeting President Muhammadu Buhari held with German Chancellor, Angela Merkel on August 31, 2018.
    Buhari reaffirmed his commitment to development of the Mambilla hydro electric and various solar projects in the country.
    Buhari said “Our goal is simply to deliver electricity to Nigerian businesses and homes. My challenge to Siemens, our partner investors in the Distribution Companies, the Transmission Company of Nigeria and the Electricity Regulator is to work hard to achieve 7,000 megawatts of reliable power supply by 2021 and 11,000 megawatts by 2023 – in phases 1 and 2 respectively.
    “After these transmission and distribution system bottlenecks have been fixed, we will seek – in the third and final phase – to drive generation capacity and overall grid capacity to 25,000 megawatts.
    “With our strong commitment to the development of Mambilla Hydroelectric and the various solar projects under development across the country, the long-term power generation capacity will ensure adequate energy mix and sustainability in the appropriate balance between urban and rural electrification.
    “Our intention is to ensure that our cooperation is structured under a Government-to-Government framework. No middlemen will be involved, so that we can achieve value for money for Nigerians.
    “We also insist that all products be manufactured to high quality German and European standards and competitively priced.
    “This project will not be the solution to ALL our problems in the power sector. However, I am confident that it has the potential to address a significant amount of the challenges we have faced for decades.
    “It is our hope that as the power situation improves, we will improve investor confidence, create jobs, reduce the cost of doing business and encourage more economic growth in Nigeria.” he said
    He thanked the group for the roles being played towards dramatically improving the quality of Nigeria’s electricity supply.
    Fixing the power sector, he said, was a key priority for his administration.
    “We all know how critical electricity is to the development of any community or indeed any nation. And in Nigeria, whilst we are blessed to have significant natural gas, hydro and solar resources for power generation, we are still on the journey to achieving reliable, affordable and quality electricity supply necessary for economic growth, industrialization and poverty alleviation.” he said
    Noting that there have been many attempts at solving the electricity problem in Nigeria, he said that previous governments have explored State funded solutions through the ill prepared National Independent Power Projects.
    He also recalled that past governments explored installation of large emergency power projects.
    President Buhari said that past governments also embarked on partial privatization of the power generation and distribution sectors.
    These various interventions to solving the electricity problem, he said, have yielded an imbalance between the amount of power generated and the amount available for consumers.
    Despite over 13,000 megawatts of power generation capacity, Buhari noted that only an average of 4,000 megawatts reliably reaches consumers.
    He added “Now, we have an excellent opportunity to address this challenge.
    “This Government’s priority was to stabilise the power generation and gas supply sector through the Payment Assurance Facility, which led to a peak power supply of 5,222 MW. Nonetheless, the constraints remained at the transmission and distribution systems.
    “This is why I directed my team to ask Siemens and our Nigerian stakeholders to first focus on fixing the transmission and distribution infrastructure – especially around economic centres where jobs are created.
    “Whilst it was evident that more needed to be done to upgrade the sub-transmission and distribution system, our Government was initially reluctant to intervene as the distribution sector is already privatised.
    “I am therefore very pleased with the positive feedback from private sector owners of the distribution companies, who have all endorsed Government’s intervention to engage Siemens on this end-to-end plan to modernise the electricity grid.” he stated
    The Global Chief Executive Officer of Siemens, Joe Kaeser, said the road map will enable the country deliver the country’s capacity of power in the first phase of 7,000, second phase up to 11,000 and third phase 25,000 megawatts.
    “That will significantly enhance the country’s power supply and gets the country to the next industrial phase. We believe we will all very much benefit together, the people of Nigeria and of course Siemen as a company.
    “I’m very honured that we were able to sign this road map today in the presence of President and our partners. I will personally make sure that this will be the big success of Nigeria, Siemen and our partners in the country.”
    On the cost of the project and how long it will last, Kaeser said: “We have really talked about solutions and how it can bring power to the people literally, from generation to transmission and effective distribution. Yes, we have been talking money at this time because this about a long term partnership and is a road map which we are going to work all the way till 2025.
    “The first phase is suppose to be done by 2021, second phase till end 2023 and the final phase by 2025.”
    The Director General of Bureau for Public Enterprises (BPE), Alex Okoh, while fielding questions from State House Correspondents, described the partnership as credible.
    He said what has been done so far is the technical evaluation from both the transmission and distribution to know essentially what the gaps are in terms of the technical infrastructure to improve the transmission and distribution capacity.
    Okoh said the next phase is to do the detailed commercials and see costing of what the Siemen intervention will entail before they will agree on the financial frameworks to domicile the financial commitment within the books of the DISCOS.
    “If you look at the amount of losses that is being experienced in the entire power sector, there are huge. We are talking about double digits losses between 30 percent and in some DISCOS almost 70 percent ATC and C losses. So that is a strong signal that the way the market is currently structured is not sustainable and if we don’t improve the critical infrastructure in terms of the winning capacity of TCN and also the distribution capacity of the DISCOS, then this kind of situation will persist for a long time.
    “That is why we welcome this intervention and we believe that within the timelines that have been directed by Mr. President, we will be able to significantly improve power supply in the country.” he said

  • TCN suspends Kano DisCo from electricity market

    TCN suspends Kano DisCo from electricity market

    The management of Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), says it has issued suspension and disconnection orders to Kano Electricity Distribution Company (KEDCO) from the electricity market.
    The suspension order was posted on TCN’s twitter handle @TCN_Nigeria on Sunday.
    According to the twitter handle, the suspension order was as result of KEDCO’s default in the Market Conditions/Market Participation Agreements.

  • Electricity: AEDC, TCN embark on network reconfiguration in FCT

    The Abuja Distribution Company (AEDC) and the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) have concluded plans to carry out a joint network reconfiguration to boost power supply in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
    Mr Oyebode Fadipe, AEDC’s General Manager, Corporate Communications, made this known in a statement issued in Abuja on Friday.
    Fadipe said that the reconfiguration exercise was to enable the two agencies redistribute load on existing 100MVA transformer at the Apo transmission.
    He said that the reconfiguration exercise would be aimed at improving power supply and service delivery in the territory.
    “Customers will recall that since the fire incident at Apo in April, there had been a regime of load shedding.
    “This reconfiguration exercise is intended to cure the load shedding and bring greater stability to the network,” he said.
    According to Fadipe, the exercise, which will take place on Saturday, July 20, will necessitate the interruption of power supply in some areas in the FCT.
    He listed the areas to include Lokogoma, Lugbe, Garki, Apo, Central Business District, Trade More Estate, Pegi, some parts of Asokoro and environs, from 10am until 2pm.
    . “We, therefore, appeal to all AEDC customers, who will be affected by the consequential power interruption, to please bear with the organisation for the duration of the exercise, ” he said.

  • TCN gets $1.6 billion to boost power supply in Nigeria

    The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), says it has received 1.661 billion dollars from multi-lateral donors to boost power supply in the country.
    Mr Usman Mohammed, the Managing Director of TCN made this known at the organisation’s quarterly news conference in Abuja on Thursday.
    Mohammed said that TCN had raised significant amount to reinforce the system under the critical investment programme.
    “As at today, the amount we have raised from multi-lateral donors has risen to 1.661 billion dollars to execute some power projects in the country.
    “These projects include the Abuja Wheeling Scheme that will bring five sub-stations and bring a new supply route to the territory.
    “The new route will be from Lafia to Abuja with 330 Kilo Volt (KV) line and two 330KV sub-stations in Abuja and put addition three numbers 132 KV sub-stations in the territory,’’ he said.
    He said that the contract for the project had been signed and divided into six slots, adding that 10 contractors had been pre-qualified.
    According to Mohammed, the company has also recovered 775 power equipment containers out of 800 abandoned at the ports due to tariff related issues, while two have been declared missing, and two empty.
    “We discovered that two containers were missing and we have reported to the police and they are investigating the matter,’’ he said.
    He, however, did not tell the contents or the value of the missing containers, but pledged to work with his team to recover them.
    Mohammed explained that TCN “is going to recover about 2,000 to 3,000mw with the present upgrade of its equipment.
    “Which automatically means the grid will shift from 8,000MW to at least 10,000 MW,’’ he said.
    The TCN boss said that the company had used their staff to forcefully take over some contracts and those contracts were at the point of completion.
    He noted that in spite of the massive investment so far recorded by the sector from the transmission end, the distribution companies were yet to match it with a proportional upgrade of their equipment.
    This, according to him, is responsible for the frequent system collapses in the Nigeria Electricity Supply Industry.

  • Apo substation : TCN restores normal bulk power transmission

    Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), says it has restored normal bulk transmission of electricity to its Apo transmission substation after a fire outbreak on one of its 45MVA 132/33kV power transformers on Sunday.

    The burnt 45MVA 132/33kv power transformer feeds electricity to Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC) 33kV feeders.

    Mrs Ndidi Mbah, TCN’s General Manager Public Affairs in a statement on Monday said the fire was put off by the combined efforts of the Federal, FCT and NNPC fire service.

    She, however, said it was still early for TCN to determine if the burnt transformer could be salvaged.

    Mbah said that the fire resulted from a direct fault from one of AEDC’s 33kV feeders which had a history of incessant trippings, noting that the 33kV lacked protection.

    She said TCN was equally investigating possibility of transformer protection failure on its 45MVA power transformer.

    “The 33kV feeder H13 circuit breaker and current transformer exploded while the 33kV outgoing transformer snapped causing the fire.’’

    She, however, said the Apo transmission substation had N-I redundancy and as such, power supply to all the areas that take supply from the substation through AEDC would not be affected by the incident.

    “This is because the maximum load taken by AEDC from the burnt 45MVA transformer was 26MW, meanwhile maximum load AEDC takes from the old 100MVA in the substation is 56.5MW.

    “But maximum load from the second 100MVA power transformer installed last year is 30.8MW, both however, can take at full capacity, a total of 160MW as against the 86.5MW.’’

    She said TCN was presently transmitting normal supply through the 2x100MVA 330/132kV and the second 45MVA 132/33kv power transformers in the substation.

    According to her, the company had equally loaded the 26MW from the burnt transformer into the 100MVA MBH transformer at the substation and is adequately supplying AEDC without load reduction.

    Mbah said TCN was working with AEDC to ensure that it now takes the load formally taken from the burnt transformer through the MBH 100MVA transformer.

    She apologised on behalf of TCN for the inconveniences caused electricity consumers in the affected areas, noting that issue of protection of equipment must be taken very seriously.

    This, she said was to ensure that stability of the nation’s network was not compromised.

  • TCN explains reasons for low power generation

    TCN explains reasons for low power generation

    The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) has explained power generation reduced due to an emergency maintenance by Nigerian Gas Company (NGC) on pipeline supplying gas to Egbin, Omotosho, Olorunsogo and Paras power stations.

    Mrs Ndidi Mbah, TCN’s General Manager, Public Affairs in a statement on Saturday said the maintenance led to the total shutdown of the four power generating plants on April 25.

    Mbah said the maintenance on the pipeline was reportedly caused by a leakage discovered on the Escravos-Lagos gas pipeline system.

    She also said that prior to the incident, Omotosho National Integrated Power Plant (NIPP) and Olorunsogo NIPP were already out due to gas supply issues.

    She, however, said NGC had begun works to repair the gas pipeline and restore normal supply to the affected power plants.

    “Presently, repairs have been completed and the pipeline is currently being pressurised prior to resumption of gas supply to the affected power stations’’

    She said TCN had diverted about 312MW of electricity from the Benin-Egbin 330kV transmission line which tripped by 23:14 hours on April 23 to Omotosho–Ikeja West and Ayede-Ikeja 330kV transmission lines.

    The TCN spokesperson attributed the diversion to on-going repair works on the Benin-Egbin 330kV transmission line.

    She said the tripping was caused by a transmission line cut between Ofofu and Okada towns, noting that TCN engineers are making concerted efforts to complete repair works on the transmission line.

    She, however, said the diversion had also reduced the load shedding in Lagos axis.

    “Due to the diversion of the load from the line to the two transmission lines equally feeding Lagos axis, load shedding in Lagos axis was minimised to about 280MW at the first instance.’’

    She, however, said with the attendant gas supply issues and sudden gas leakage problem, load shedding had increased considerably.

    Mbah said TCN regrets the inconveniences, but assured that power supply would return to normal as soon as normal gas supply is restored to the affected power stations and transmission repair work completed.

  • Electricity: Generation, transmission peak at 5,375MW – TCN

    The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) says the National Grid successfully transmitted a new generation peak of 5,375MW on Feb. 7.

    Mrs Ndidi Mbah, TCN General Manager, Public Affairs in a statement in Abuja on Monday said it was the first time the nation’s power grid generated, transmitted and distributed such quantum of power.

    She said the attainment of new national peak in power generation, transmission and distribution was a clear indication of the success of President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration’s policy on incremental power.

    Mbah said the generation peak of 5,224MW which was also successfully transmitted by TCN was attained on Dec. 18, 2017.

    “This has now been surpassed by the new peak of 5,375MW.’’

    According to her, the present capacity of Generation Companies (GenCos) nationwide is 7,450MW which is expected to significantly increase with the expected recovery of all the generators at Egbin plant by the management of Sahara Energy.

    “The capacity of transmission based on the simulation of December. 2018 is 8,100MW.

    “Since the last simulation, several transformers have been added to transmission,’’ she said.

    Mbah said with the new combined peak, Distribution Companies (DisCos) had also increased their capacity.

    She, however, said more work was needed to improve the distribution capacities to fully stabilise the sector.

    The TCN spokesperson said the company had continued to upgrade critical transmission infrastructure nationwide with the commissioning of more than 40 power transformers and lines in 2017 and 2018.

    She said the company had also constructed seven new substations and was diligently pursuing its Transmission Rehabilitation and Expansion Programme (TREP).

    “As at date, TCN’s wheeling capacity has increased from 5,000MW in 2016 to 7,124MW in 2017 and 8,100MW in 2018.’’

    She said TCN was not only focusing on grid expansion but also on the quality of the power.

    The TCN spokesperson said TCN achieved frequency control of between 49.50Hz and 50.50Hz between May 2017 and Nov. 2018 which had not been achieved for the past 20 years.

    “From Dec. 2018 to date, TCN equally achieved the best frequency control of between 49.75Hz and 50.25Hz for 85 per cent of the time.’’

    This, she said was the best frequency ever witnessed in the history of the Nigerian power sector.