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Tag: TCN

  • TCN pledges 20,000 MW by 2021

    The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) has pledged to increase its production to 20,000 megawatts by 2021.

    Mr Usman Muhammed, TCN Managing Director/CEO, gave the assurance while speaking with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on the sidelines of the installation of a 1×60 MVA transformer at the 132/33kV Transmission Substation in Akure.

    NAN reports that the capacity of the substation prior to this installation was 120 MVA.

    The additional transformer has raised the capacity of the substation to 180 MVA, with many communities in Akure and its environs expected to experience a remarkable improvement in power supply.

    Mohammed said that the installation of the transformer was in line with the policy of the Federal Government to expand and stabilise electricity in the country.

    He said the Federal Government “aims at providing operational flexibility and reliability in delivering bulk power to distribution companies, international customers as well as other customers connected directly to the national grid.’’

    The TCN boss noted that the company was implementing the Transmission Rehabilitation and Expansion Programme of the Federal Government in line with international best practices.

    “The installation will also increase the total wheeling capacity of TCN which was 7,124MW when it was last simulated in December 2017, and I can assure you that we have resolved all bottlenecks confronting effective service delivery.

    “Currently, the Akure 330/132/33KV Substation is about 95% completed. This will eventually add another 120MVA to the existing capacity in Akure.

    “I visited the station yesterday and I can confirm that it is one of the best in this country”, he added.

    Mohammed stressed that the installation of the 1X60MVA transformer in the Akure 132/33KV substation would lead to a remarkable improvement in power supply in Akure metropolis and its environ, including Igbara-Oke, Oba-Ile and Iju/Ita Ogbolu.

    The TCN boss, however, noted that the massive investment in the sector would not lead to significant improvement in the country unless the distribution companies also invest in rehabilitation and expansion of their networks.

    “I wish to use this occasion to call on the distribution companies to invest in their network so that the massive investment by TCN and generation companies can lead to economic growth and development of Nigeria,’’ he said.

    In his remarks at the event, Gov. Oluwarotimi Akeredolu appealed to distribution companies to ensure that they metered all consumers of electricity to avoid the rift between their staff and customers.

    The governor said that if all consumers were provided with a meter, they would control their electricity use and this would reduce grievances with discos.

    Akeredolu, who said that power was a critical requirement for economic growth, noted that its impact on education, health and other facets of life could not be quantified.

  • We are not responsible for persistent power outage – TCN

    The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) on Friday announced that the upgrading of its transmission lines in Kaduna State was not the cause of persistent power outages in the city.

    TCN’s General Manager, Public Affairs, Mrs Ndidi Mbah made this known in a statement.

    She said TCN was not carrying out maintenance work as alleged in some quarters but was upgrading its Mando–Kakuri transmission lines from 80MW to 240MW.

    The general manager said the upgrade was to significantly improve power supply to Kaduna and its environs.

    According to her, the transmission lines upgrade is carried out only on weekends, the TCN is not responsible for any outage beyond the period.

    Mbah said the TCN’s decision to undertake upgrade of the transmission lines on weekends was to reduce inconvenience to electricity customers.

    She said the upgrade could cause power supply interruption to only electricity customers in Kaduna South during the weekends for nine hours.

    She said doubling of the transformer capacity of Kaduna town transmission station from 120MVA to 240MVA, in line with its grid expansion plan resulted in the upgrade of the lines.

    “On completion, there would be increased electricity supply to Kaduna State through the Mando-Kakuri transmission line,’’ she said.

    Mbah said the upgrade of the transmission line was the only way the impact of the two additional new 60MVA power transformers could be felt by electricity consumers in Kaduna.

    According to her, TCN is committed to the execution of its grid expansion plan, in line with Federal Government’s policy on incremental power.

    “The Mando-Kakuri transmission lines upgrade in Kaduna is an integral part of this process and when completed, it will boost power transmission capacity to distribution load centres supplying power to Kaduna South.’’

  • FG concludes regulations on new class of meter suppliers

    The Federal Government says that the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) has concluded regulations that will provide framework to license new class meter suppliers in the country.

    The Minster of Power, Works and Housing, Mr Babatunde Fashola made this known at the 25th monthly power sector meeting in Uyo.

    Fashola, in a text of his opening remark, said the framework would complement efforts of Distribution Companies (DisCos) to supply meters to Nigerians.

    According to the minister, Yola DisCo is already positioning to take up 400,000 meters once the contract and process formalities are concluded.

    “I am told that Abuja, Ibadan, Kano, Ikeja and Benin DisCos are also embracing the initiative, which has reserved a 30 per cent local content for the meters to be supplied under the regulations.”

    According to Fashola, government decision to pursue an out-of-court settlement on a meter contract awarded since 2003, held up in Court until 2017, has made available about N39 billion to start the process.

    He said incremental power initiative of government was yielding positive results, adding that the promise of steady power was becoming real.

    “If we persevere, I am certain that we will witness uninterrupted power, which is the final destination of our journey.

    “In many parts of the country connected to the grid, citizen feedback is positive, even though all the problems are not solved.

    “Citizens acknowledge more power in dry weather, reduced hours of running their generators and reduction in fuel (diesel and petrol) purchase to power generators.”

    He said it was cheery that Nigerians were already embracing the mini-grid policy and regulations to provide power for different uses.

    Fashola said “in Ogun State, a renewable energy project was completed and commissioned last month.

    “In Kano State, I commissioned a 73KW solar hybrid system developed by Rumbu Industries to support its mat production in a factory that employs 1,400 people.

    “Within the same period in Kano, I inspected the solar system being deployed in Sabon Gari Market that has 12,000 shops.

    According to him, about 3,000 shops have registered, while 486 shops have been connected to cheaper and more efficient solar power and more shops are being wired by 120 technicians employed by the project.

    He said government was moving away from theorising about power to actual provision of efficient power to support trade and business, especially small and medium enterprises, who are the drivers of our economy.

    According to him, government has secured a World Bank approval for 486 million dollars to fund TCN’s transmission expansion programme.

    The minister also said progress was being made with the same bank to secure funding for the rural electrification and distribution expansion programmes.

    He said TCN had completed the transmission expansion of some sub-stations to improve their capacity to supply power to the DisCos.

    He listed the sub-stations to include Uyo, Calabar, Keffi, Karu, and Abeokuta among others.

    Fashola implored operators, who were truly ready to run the business they have acquired voluntarily to continue to do so, adding that government would continue to support the sector.

    “As for those who entered the business without understanding it, please brace up for hard work and help us rebuild this country.

    “Those who choose to hide temporarily in the courts of law can do so, but the court of public opinion will scrutinise you and its verdict may be very scathing, unkind, and enduring.

    “I say this because you may not have noticed that Nigerians are increasingly taking their destiny in their hands.

    “This is the essence of privatisation. If you bother to look up and around you, you will see solar panels on rooftops.

    “The mini grid regulations allow them to procure 1MW without license. This is bigger than what many traditional generators supply. There is no law that compels them to take public power.”

     

  • Abuja Disco denies allegation of load dropping by TCN

    Abuja Disco denies allegation of load dropping by TCN

    The Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC) on Tuesday denied allegations of load dropping against it by the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN).

    The TCN had in a statement on Monday said excessive dropping of load by by the AEDC was responsible for the shattering of its equipment and the subsequent 72-hour outage which occurred in Lokoja, the Kogi State capital from Friday, 23rd February, 2018 to Monday, 26th February, 2018.

    However, in a swift response, Head, Corporate Communications of AEDC, Oyebode Fadipe in a statement described the allegation by TCN as untrue and unfounded.

    Read the company’s full statement below:

    Our attention has been drawn to a statement issued on Monday by the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), in which it alleged that excessive dropping of load by our company was responsible for the shattering of its equipment and the subsequent 72-hour outage which occurred in Lokoja, the Kogi State capital from Friday, 23rd February, 2018 to Monday, 26th February, 2018.

    We wish to state categorically that this allegation by the TCN is not only untrue and unfounded, but also unfortunate, especially coming at a time when all stakeholders in the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry (NESI) are joining hands to ensure sustainable improvement in power supply across the country.

    For the records, AEDC hereby states that it neither drops load in its Lokoja network nor any other part of its operational area, which comprises the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Kogi, Nasarawa and Niger states, stressing that it has in fact been yearning for more electricity allocation to enable it meet the demands of its customers.

    The company explained that contrary to the claim by the Transmission Company of Nigeria, the recent outage in Lokoja and environs which lingered for about 72 hours resulted from a maintenance work, which was scheduled to start and end on Friday, 23rd of February, 2018, but had to be extended to the evening of Monday, February 26, 2018.

    “The TCN had duly notified our Area Office in Lokoja that it was carrying out a maintenance work on its 150MVA transformer at the 330/132 transmission station in Lokoja on Friday, February 23, 2018, but we later got to know that the maintenance had been extended beyond that day, and by Sunday, February 25, 2018, it was all too obvious again that TCN could not conclude its upkeep on the transformer, forcing yet another extension to Monday, February 26, 2018”.

    It said further that: “It is rather unfortunate that the TCN will also turn round to blame the lingering outage in Lokoja on AEDC, when the actual reason for the outage was quite obvious”.

    Commenting further on the allegations, AEDC said the TCN’s statement implies insufficient resilience in the transmission system especially when the small load of Lokoja is considered relative to the entire load on the transmission network, adding that “assuming the TCN’s allegation was correct, the implication is that every time a load was dropped due to faults and other causes a TCN equipment will be blown up because of the high voltage”. The distribution company said that: “Root cause analysis approach backed by system simulations is what should be used to inform causes of failures on the system”.

    While reiterating its concern about the TCN’s allegation, the AEDC concluded by appealing to all stakeholders in the NESI against buck passing, saying that “we should all work towards building on the successes that have been recorded so far in the power sector, in order to win greater public confidence in our capacity to turnaround the sector”.

  • Power generation dropped by 2,841MW in one week – TCN

    Power generation dropped by 2,841MW in one week – TCN

    The Transmission Company of Nigeria, TCN, wheeled out 22,978 megawatts of electricity between July 17 to July 23 against the 25,819 megawatts generated in the previous week.

    Power generation dropped by 2,841 megawatts between the two periods.

    The daily statistics of TCN operations obtained from the Nigerian Electricity System Operator, a section of the TCN, showed that power generation between July 17 and July 23 was taken by 11 distribution companies.

    According to the statistics, the daily power generation during the period were 3,227mw, 3,504mw, 3,285mw, 3,656mw, 3,579mw, 2,898mw and 2,829mw, respectively.

    However, the daily distribution to distribution companies (DISCOs) between July 10 and July 16 were 3,511mw, 3,973mw, 3,915mw, 3,947mw, 3,3511mm, 3,487mw and 3,475mw, respectively.

    The TCN indicated that the national peak demand forecast stood at 19,100.00mw, of which 11,165.40mw was the installed available capacity, 7,139.60mw was the available capacity, 7,000mw was current transmission capacity and network operational capacity of 5,500.00mw.

    The peak generation ever attained in Nigeria was 5,074.7mw, while the maximum energy ever attained stood at 109,372.01mwh.

    Mr Dada Thomas, the President of Nigerian Gas Association, said that the nationwide shortage of available natural gas supply was the most critical issue facing the Nigerian power sector.

    Thomas said that his association, gas producers and investors in the country would be at ease if the natural gas shortage was checked at least in the short term.

    According to him, the shortfall in natural gas supply has been further worsened by pipeline vandalism.

    Thomas said the problem was impacting on cost-reflective electricity tariffs, unworkable Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) and over regulation of gas price.

    He urged the Federal Government to take actions to resolve the problem and other challenges that had made further investments unattractive for gas producers, processors, pipelines and transportation companies.

    Thomas said that the shortages, being witnessed over the years, would be trivial to the massive economic and social disruptions in future “if we fail to act now“.

    Prof. Barth Nnaji, a former Minister of Power, expressed deep concern about the future of Nigeria’s power sector.

    Nnaji said the environment was not attractive for investment that would help address various challenges in the industry.

    Nnaji said that foreign investors were not willing to invest in the sector because the Federal Government had not addressed major issues that would guarantee good returns on investment.

    He said that many projects had been stalled due to financial constraints and tariff issues.

    According to him, the tariff must also reflect exchange rate movements since “attachment of tariff to currency movements and adjustments must be done”.

    “Tariff review will also help DISCOs to recover costs and pay for gas.”

    Nnaji also said that lack of industry deregulation and absence of proper legislation had discouraged investment because “it is the only deregulation that will allow investors to consider investment in gas production and transportation.’’

    Mr Babatunde Fashola, the Minister of Power, Works and Housing, on July 5, said that the TCN would undertake 200 projects to improve power supply.

    Fashola said at the Nigeria Energy Forum in Lagos that TCN was concentrating on completing the projects to ensure smooth transmission of energy to the national grid.

    “Electricity is a very topical subject in the country; lack of it affects production, security, comfort and standard of education.

    “If all of us will draw all energy needs from the grid, we will need over 13,000 Megawatts, but unfortunately, the maximum we have from the grid is just 4,700MW,’’ Fashola said.

     

    NAN

  • Nigerians! ‘Expect poor power supply as generation drops to 2662 megawatts’

    From all indications, Nigerians might suffer poor power supply henceforth following an announcement by The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) that the nation’s power generation capacity dropped from 3,959 megawatts on Jan. 4 to 2,662 megawatts on Jan. 22.

    The Nigerian Electricity System Operator (SO) website, a sub agency of TCN, disclosed the figure in its daily forecast on power generation data in Lagos on Sunday.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that TCN attributed the drop to low water levels at the hydro power stations and dearth of gas to the power generating companies.

    TCN said the total output of 2,662.20 megawatts from all the generation companies on Sunday had been transferred to the 11 distribution companies across the country.

    According to the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry (NESI) operational report for Jan. 4, the power sector hit a peak generation of 4,959 megawatts but dropped to 2,662.20 megawatts on Jan. 22.

    NESI said the sector recorded highest system frequency of 51.32Hz and lowest system frequency of 48.52 Hz, while the highest and the lowest voltage recorded on Sunday were 372KV and 300KV, respectively.

    An official of Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), who preferred anonymity, told NAN that electricity generation had been dwindling due to challenge of accessing gas by generation companies.

    The official said that low level water levels at the country’s hydro thermal stations also contributed to the drop in generation.
    He said that most hydro stations are currently confronted with low water challenges to generate energy.

    The TCN official said that this often caused system collapse when the system scrabbled to distribute energy from the grid to distribution companies and the quantum of energy was not sufficient.

    According to him, it is a challenging period for power sector but it will get better once the hydro swing into high water level and gas becomes available.

    He attributed the drop in generation to the attack launched against pipeline facilities belonging to the Nigerian Petroleum Development Company (NPDC) on Jan. 17 around Ugheli in Delta State.

    Similarly, a top official of Egbin Power Station, who also pleaded anonymity, said that the power plant, with a capacity of 1,320 megawatts, now generates 340 megawatts due to gas constraint.
    The official said that the 340 megawatts Egbin generated was wheeled out to the national grid at 6.00 am on Sunday.

    The Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Mr Babatunde Fashola, had on Friday said that the sabotage of power assets by militants prevented Nigeria from generating 7,000 MW of electricity.

    “Today, at its most frugal, the nation’s power grid would support 6,500MW; pushed to its limit, it would carry 7,200MW.

    “So it is not true when you hear that the grid capacity is not more than 5,000MW. It is growing every day and more projects are coming up.

    “We have completed some and more are still coming up. So that is where we are,’’ Fashola said at the Nextier Power Dialogue in Abuja on Friday.

    The Minister said while power was out due to attacks in one axis, the expansion of either the grid or gas supply was kept alive on another axis and hydro power was also being expanded.

  • Nationwide power supply worsens as fire engulfs TCN control room

     

    The country may yet face a decline in the supply of power as the Transmission Company of Nigeria, TCN on Saturday confirmed a fire incident which occurred at its Afam VI power station in Rivers State had completely destroyed the firm’s protection and control equipment.

    The General Manager, Public Affairs of TCN, Mrs. Seun Olagunju, explained in a statement that the fire incident occurred on Wednesday and that the equipment destroyed were located in TCN’s relay and control room.

    She said the development had prevented the evacuation of guaranteed 450 megawatts of electricity generated by the station.

    Olagunju said the fire incident, which occurred around 6:58 am, completely destroyed the transmission company’s equipment at the power station.

    She, however, said the cause of the inferno had yet to be ascertained as of Saturday.

    The TCN spokesperson added that the firm’s response team were mobilised to the site of the inferno immediately the incident happened, to isolate the faulty section of the substation.

    She said the team was also asked to make an alternative arrangement for the evacuation of power generated by Afam VI station into the grid.

    She said, “Presently, the job has been successfully completed and the power station has reconnected to the national grid.”

    Olagunju explained that the major cause of the current low power generation was not the fire incident but the vandalism of gas pipelines that resulted in short supply of gas to the thermal power generating stations.

    She pledged that TCN would continue to work towards expanding the nation’s transmission grid in line with its expansion plans.

    It is not however clear when TCN will fix the destroyed equipment to jack up the supply of power which is currently epileptic nationally.