Adewale Sanyaolu
Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, has hinted that the Federal Government was planning a fresh recapitalisation of the 11 electricity distribution companies (Discos) was underway as part of efforts to make them compete and deliver on their mandate.
Osinbajo gave the hint yesterday during the commissioning of the Niger Delta Power Holding Company (NDPHC), 2X60MVA, 132/33KV Substation and Associated transmission lines in Abeokuta, Ogun State.
This was even as he urged the DisCos to come up with more capacity and resources to upgrade what they are doing at the moment to ensure that distribution assets are available, including metering of consumers.
The Vice President said there was need to open up the space in the power sector to allow for the entry of more players in distribution, transmission and generation and transacting with one another to sell power to willing customers, including the deployment of off grid power, and using micro grid and solar power.
Osinbajo disclosed that government could not afford to restrict the space to those who currently occupy it.
‘‘The DisCos simply must come up with more resources one way or another. And part of that recapitalisation is embedded in the Siemens phased electrification roadmap.
“The whole idea of the Siemens electrification roadmap is to deploy financing and technology on commercial terms agreed to, by transmission and distribution companies in partnership with the German Government and Siemens in the first phase, increase transmission and distribution capacity to enable power delivery of at least 7,000 megawatts and up to 25,000 mega watts in the second phase’’, he stated.
Osinbajo added that the intervention of Siemens in transmission projects does not, in any way, abdicate TCN of its mandate and as well for the distribution companies.
Earlier, in his address, the Managing Director of NDPHC, Mr. Chiedu Ugbo, while explaining the rationale behind the project, said electricity supply to those parts of Ogun state along the axis of Ota right, up to Abeokuta the state capital, were initially via a double circuit 132kV line into Otta, from the mega 330/132/33kV Transformer Substation at Ikeja West, which serves as a marshalling station for several power plant inflows into Lagos.
He explained that, a 2X40MVA 132/33kV Substation was built at Otta location for supply to Otta and environs, while out of Otta, a single circuit lower capacity 132kV line was built to connect Abeokuta via an intermediate 132/33kV Substation at Papalanto within the premises of Lafarge Cement Company.
The Abeokuta Substation was also equipped with 2X40MVA 132/33kV Transformers to supply Abeokuta and its environs.
Over time, he said, all these facilities became overloaded and lacking capacity to cater for growing demand in these locations, necessitating NDPHC intervention. He added that, NDPHC constructed a total of 77.5kms High Capacity 132kV Transmission Lines, thus providing near quadrupling of the supply (wheeling) capacity out of Otta (from 70MW to 250MW) and thereby eliminating supply constraints and attendant load shedding that had existed before at Otta, and Abeokuta.
Additionally, he stressed that, the NIPP 2X60MVA 132/33kV Substation at New Abeokuta provides reliable 6nos. 33kV Distribution Feeders to Abeokuta environs, while the added 1X60MVA 132/33kV Transformer at Otta provides additional 3nos. 33kV feeders to Otta environs.