Power transmission projects worth about N6bn have remained stalled in the past few years due to lack of government funding, even as the nation seeks to achieve incremental power supply.
The nation’s power generation and distribution companies were privatised in November 2013, but the transmission segment of the value chain was left in the hands of the government.
Since 2002, a total of 130 projects across the country had yet to be completed, the Managing Director, Transmission Company of Nigeria, Dr. Atiku Abubakar, said at a forum held by Eko Electricity Distribution Company Plc in Lagos, with members of the House of Representatives’ Committee on Power in attendance.
He said the nation’s power grid continued to experience collapse as a result of low spinning reserve.
Abubakar said, “In the TCN, we have over 130 big projects, from 330KV to 132KV to associated substations, from 2002. But they have not been completed due to lack of funding from government. For three years’ budgets now, nothing has been allocated for the projects.
“Year in year out, we made provisions for the projects in the budget, but they were removed for reasons we don’t know. In 2015, the power sector had only N1bn allocation; and these projects are worth N5bn to N6bn. They are over 60 to 70 per cent completed; we have all the materials on the ground.”
He said the contractors could not continue the project because payment had not been made, adding, “We hope this year, we will be able to fund the projects so that they will be completed within one year or one and a half years.”
The TCN MD noted that the issue of gas constraints had worsened power supply in the country.
He said, “Principally, that (gas shortage) is what is drawing us back. If you recall in February, we reached 5,074 megawatts, which was the highest ever generated in Nigeria. But now, we are hovering between 3,000MW and 3,200MW.
“We are hopeful that the situation will improve and we will get improvement in generation. Once we are generating anything below 3,000MW, nobody can guarantee the grid stability. That is, system collapse is bound to happen.
He decried the lack of adequate spinning reserve to forestall system collapse, saying, “Sometimes we have 15MW, 20MW and 36MW as spinning reserve. So if you lose 300MW, what can that do in order to quickly rise up and protect the system; you will lose the system. So, that is the issue. But we are trying as much as possible to avoid system collapse.”
The Managing Director, EKEDC, Mr. Oladele Amoda, said when the private investors came in after the privatisation of the sector, power generation was around 3,000MW, adding, “Our demand in Eko is between 700MW and 1,000MW. The best we have got was 500MW, and that was around February.”
He said the gas pipeline vandalism was militating against the drive for incremental power.
Noting that the sector had suffered huge neglect before the privatisation, Amoda said more than 70 per cent of their customers did not have functional meters and the situation was not peculiar to the EKEDC.
He said, “The investors put measures in place to rehabilitate and upgrade the assets. We went to the banks to get loans so as to sustain the network. We purchased a lot of transformers and provided meters to many of our customers.”
The Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Power, Mr. Dan Asuquo, said, “One thing I think my colleagues and I are taking back is the level of enlightenment and concern, which Nigerians have shown to get better quality service for what they pay for. I think we have an increased agitation for better service for what they pay for.”
He said the committee was monitoring the performance of the power firms to ensure Nigerians were not exploited in any way and to get value for their money.
He noted that the power sector had been denied measurable investment in the last 30 years, saying, “The decay is very much.”

http://businessnews.com.ng/2016/12/23/n6bn-power-transmission-projects-stalled-amid-funding-challenge/?utm_content=bufferb4a36&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer

Lalasticlala

---

buhari sha

BUHARI and failure is so synonymous.
BUHARI ear infection and illiteracy will not allow him read and hear this important information.

We are to wasteful in this part of the country, we spent money too start a project but we abandon it half way either due to improper planning for the project or because of politics ( the person that started the project is not from my party or tribe) without considering the benefit of the project to the citizen or the amount of money that has been spent on that project .If you go around the country you will see a lot of abandon NIPP projects, This projects are initiated to provide electricity to small community around the area but are not functioning.
Some of the projects are 70-85% completed, while we have communities around the area not having light for more than 10 years, take mowe-ibafo for instance no light for 10 years and we have a power plant at akute which has refuse to work and keep gulping money for like how many years now.
I will say if Nigeria is to develop we need to inculcate continuation process in our government, look at the amount of money that was spent on light rail that was abandoned in rivers state, what I expect from the new government is to continue with this project and if you feel you need to review somethings either cost or the route it is understandable.

th

The problems of this country are mightier than buhari and his amateur cabinet. He may not be the one who caused these problems, but he can never fix them. Even if he's stays for 2 tenure, the present mess will only get messier.

#EternalTruth

Nothing works in this country. How about our so called vision 2020

It is well.

If you still believe that any good thing can come out of this government, you need to have your head examine because PDP was a fraud why APC is a scam

Merry Christmas

Evil people everywhere

“Year in year out, we made provisions for the projects in the budget, but they were removed for reasons we don’t know. In 2015, the power sector had only N1bn allocation; and these projects are worth N5bn to N6bn. They are over 60 to 70 per cent completed; we have all the materials on the ground.”

It's true. There is one along Akure/Oba-Ile expressway. It's almost completed. It's been lying fallow for a long time. It was started by Jonathan. That substation will impact and help power transmission to Akure and the environs tremendously. Akure as big as it is, is still dependent on an old 132 KVA substation at Fanibi junction. That substation has been there probably since late 70s. No one has deemed it fit to build new ones or expand power transmission lines to the city after many decades. Akure has expanded ten times over.

SMH

buharimustlive:
BUHARI and failure is so synonymous.
BUHARI ear infection and illiteracy will not allow him read and hear this important information.

veekid:

---

buhari sha

Since 2002, a total of 130 projects across the country had yet to be completed, the Managing Director, Transmission Company of Nigeria, Dr. Atiku Abubakar, said at a forum held by Eko Electricity Distribution Company Plc in Lagos, with members of the House of Representatives’ Committee on Power in attendance.

Are you guys ok at all?

again?

D problem of power is just a testament of d bad governance that has plagued this nation since the democratic dispensation.

What happened to the trillions trillions that they said was recovered?
Has Magu shared it with Buhari or what?

Lawyer wey dey do like engineer na suegbe eh, na suegbe o.....

Power sector's been dead for as long as I can remember.. Let's not expect anything better till d next generation... FG's certainly not ready to do anything to improve it.... The project's cannot be completed clearly not from where we are right now in dis country...

You have only 5 naira and you go and start 2p00 naira project!
Some in Jigawa where the people will never pay to cover the cost of the project!
No be mumu you be so?

buharimustlive:
BUHARI and failure is so synonymous.
BUHARI ear infection and illiteracy will not allow him read and hear this important information.

From your comment, it is obvious who is the illiterate that can't read important information.

Ijaya123:


From your comment, it is obvious who is the illiterate that can't read important information.

Is buhari not a disappointment?

minister of darkness Aka Mr rocket science

buharimustlive:
BUHARI and failure is so synonymous.
BUHARI ear infection and illiteracy will not allow him read and hear this important information.

People behind Nigeria problems are fellow Nigerians.

one-hundred-and-thirty incomplete projects. lol

Teewhy2:
We are to wasteful in this part of the country, we spent money too start a project but we abandon it half way either due to improper planning for the project or because of politics ( the person that started the project is not from my party or tribe) without considering the benefit of the project to the citizen or the amount of money that has been spent on that project .If you go around the country you will see a lot of abandon NIPP projects, This projects are initiated to provide electricity to small community around the area but are not functioning.
Some of the projects are 70-85% completed, while we have communities around the area not having light for more than 10 years, take mowe-ibafo for instance no light for 10 years and we have a power plant at akute which has refuse to work and keep gulping money for like how many years now.
I will say if Nigeria is to develop we need to inculcate continuation process in our government, look at the amount of money that was spent on light rail that was abandoned in rivers state, what I expect from the new government is to continue with this project and if you feel you need to review somethings either cost or the route it is understandable.

There are very powerful people in this country who do not want the power sector to work. Some of them are in govt, some are wealthy business men. Governments change hands, but they remain like an albatross.

5starmilitant:
The problems of this country are mightier than buhari and his amateur cabinet. He may not be the one who caused these problems, but he can never fix them. Even if he's stays for 2 tenure, the present mess will only get messier.

#EternalTruth

Amateur cabinet

must everything that you wan build always have a price tag on it??..

you people can be deceived easily..

i can even sell cow dung to you people...i just have to put a high price tag on it...