In a bid to expand the amount of power generated to the grid, the Federal Government
(FG) has disclosed that the newly approved Mambilla Hydropower plant project
will be completed in six years.
It said the Mambilla project upon completion,
would generate and add 3050 Megawatts to the national grid.
The Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Power,
Works and Housing, Louis Edozien, made the disclosure at a meeting of line
route, environmental and social impact assessment study for the second Ikeja
west-Sakete transmission line in Abuja at the weekend.
He explained that although more power plants are
connected to the grid, putting the current transmission figure at 7000MW but
noted that the distribution network has not been able to take the entire load.
His words: “we currently have more power plants
connected to the grid and if we combine all the energy they generate, it would
add up to 7000MW. On the other hand, if you add all the energy the Discos can
take, it sums up to 4,600MWs. This has been difficult to explain to Nigerians
considering the fact that what they need is more than 7,000MW.
“To satisfy that need, we need to improve
investments in Discos, the industry regulator Nerc is currently assessing the
Distribution investment requirements.”
According to him, the Transmission Company of
Nigeria (TCN), Generation Companies (GenCos) as well as the Distribution
Companies (DisCos) are making efforts towards expansion.
He, however stressed the need for regional
market to strengthen expansion drive.
“Now that the TCN and Gencos are ahead of the
Discos, we will ensure it becomes a norm. For the power supply value chain to
be sustained the trading arrangements must be respected and adhered to,” he
added.
On his part, the Managing Director, Transmission
Company of Nigeria (TCN), Mr Usman Gur Mohammed said the company seeks to
expand the grid to about 20,000 megawatts capacity in the next three years.
“TCN is working very hard to see that it
stabilize the grid line by ensuring that we transfer adequate power,” he said.
He noted that the TCN was no longer the weakest
link in the power value chain, adding however, that it is fast tracking the
implementation of several transmission projects supported by the government.
Also, he noted that the second Ikeja west 330kv
transmission line was imperative as demand for more power from the grid has
increased .
“This so, considering the fact that TCN has
archive some remarkable stability following the implementation of the free
governor control response action which has heightened the prospect of the
interconnection of Nigerian grid with that of neighbouring countries.
“TCN has come out with the expansion program and
the Federal Ministry of power and Finance has supported and this
expansion program has also been endorsed by several donors and some the
projects have gone far in the implementation,” he added.
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