EKEDC gives reason for stable power supply in Lekki

Oredola Adeola

The Eko Electricity Distribution Company(EKEDC) has attributed the improved power supply in Lekki and Victoria Island areas to the extra 100MegaWatts(MWs) of electricity, it acquired from the Niger Delta Power Holding Company (NDPHC) under a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) specifically dedicated to complimenting the 11 percent MYTO allocations that it is receiving from the national grid.

This was revealed in a statement by  Dr. Tinuade Sanda, Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, EKEDC, who was represented by  Mr. Joseph Ezenwa, the company’s Chief Financial Officer, at the Customers Engagement Forum in the Lekki business district. on Thursday.

According to her, in a bid to compensate our customers for their commitment to the payment of electricity bills, we entered into different embedded arrangements with power generation firms, with a view to increasing the supply to the Lekki and other areas, thereby reducing the over-dependency on the national grid.

The EKEDC’s CFO said, “We have pioneered PPA arrangement through the NDPHC to upscale what is actually available from the grid.  “This is one of the various measures that we have put in place to satisfy our customers and guarantee them increased power supply across our distribution network.

“So far, the electricity Generation companies (GenCos) are having their challenges, due to gas supply-related issues required to power their plants, which has limited the quantum of power that is generated and evacuated into the transmission network and distributed to the DisCos.

“There are other forms of the power purchase agreement including the deal with Paras Energy for the supply of 40MW and other embedded generation agreements, all in the pipeline, to boost adequate power supply to our customers.

“But we cannot proceed further on some of these embedded agreements without giving priority to cheaper energy sources that we get from the national grid. I mentioned this because power purchase agreements from embedded sources are quite expensive.

The EKEDC is the first DisCos to sign 100 MW PPA concept in Nigeria. I am not sure any DisCos have been able to achieve this feat. We have set the pace and shown Nigerians that this type of arrangement is achievable, the CFO noted.

While reacting to the call by customers for the replacement and rehabilitation of transformers, poles, and other associated equipment that have reduced supply to their areas despite improvement in electricity across the network, Ezenwa explained that procurement of distribution infrastructure requires so much capital.

He further said that the EKEDC  does not have the capital that is required to purchase all the power equipment for all the customers at the same time.

He said, “Capital Expenditure is done in bits based on the availability of resources and priority. The N14 Billion concessionary loan that we obtained from the Central Bank of Nigeria(CBN) for infrastructure upgrade, is a small amount that has been judiciously used to cater to some critical projects. We have barely scratched the surface of the power infrastructure deficit even with the concessionary loan.

Ezenwa also pleaded for the understanding of the CDAs and community leaders in efforts to resolve issues of energy theft.

According to him,  we have to stop incurring losses associated with energy theft.  Losses are limitations to funding needed to fix transformers and other technical challenges.

“Issues of energy theft, assault, and other forms of violence against our staff have to be curtailed. We need security assurances when working on faulty infrastructure,” he suggested.

Speaking on the provision of prepaid meters, Ezenwa disclosed that meters are available for customers under the Meter Assets Provider(MAP) scheme, urging them to apply and be metered.

He also noted that EKEDC will, as part of the commendation received from customers on its promptness to respond to the complaints, continue to expand the various communication channels for more customers.  He assured that if customers understand some of the processes involved in carrying out our operations, that  would reduce all forms of agitations against the DisCo’s staff.

Engr. Henry Uko, Acting Head  Distribution Operations EKEDC, while giving an update on the successes that have been made in the last one year within the business district,  said the DisCo has gone a step further by making contingency plans against frequent national grid collapse, to guarantee minimum supply to its customers.

He said, “ We are guaranteeing our customers more power in reward for their feedback and commitment to settling bills.  Customers within the Lekki axis have been attesting to the stable power supply in their area due to the extra 100MW PPA agreement that we made with the NDPHC.

Engr. Femi Olaoye, EKEDC General Technical said the company is presently battling with supply challenges due to the TCN’s power evacuation challenges. As part of measures put in place to resolve this, there is an agreement to upgrade some substations within the network with an additional100MVA 132/33kV power transformers, some of which have been approved by the government.

“Last year we did the rehabilitation work on some substations and feeders to improve supply to our customers, during which a lot of feeders and new projects were conceived with the deployment of the N14bn CBN’s annual Capex loan to the DisCos.

“As we speak,  some projects have been completed while others are ongoing with the deliberate intention of improved power supply within the network. We have recently completed the reconfiguration of the injection substation and feeders to stabilise power in Lekki Phase 1. The usual trippings of feeders during the rainy season has been permanently resolved after that.

“So many feeders and injection substations are being rehabilitated and we are creating additional feeders to evacuate loads. We have also done some reconfiguration to balance the load on the 4x60MVA in the Lekki axis to allow an even distribution of load.

“We are already moving power through the Egbin/ Ajah lines to  Lekki/VI and Ikoyi and that has helped us bridge the power supply gas that often occurs whenever there are national grid collapses. This is a special power arrangement apart from the 11 percent MYTO from TCN.

“On the Lekki substation, we have installed  1 x 300, 1 x60 MWA, all the feeders are 90percent overloaded and there is an agreement to upgrade the station to 2x 66MVA 132/33KV  to radiate more loads.

“We have recently awarded the construction of the Elegushi feeder through the CBN loan in order to de-load some of the over-loaded feeders in that axis.

“Residents within the Lekki axis can attest to the fact that those trippings and instability on the grid have been addressed due to the reconfiguration that we have done.

“We moved those on the Argungi injections substation to our Chevron lines, a premium line, customers in this area are now enjoying a reasonable supply of power.  All the overloaded distribution substations have been deloaded.

“We have also used the CBN loan to procure 150 distribution transformers, by replacing all the old transformers under our network based on the request made by our customers,” Engr Olaoye noted.

Mr. Thompson, the CDA Chairman representing Iroko Awe and Orile Lasan CDA, commends Mr. Emmanuel, the Lekki District Manager for his promptness in attending to faults within the CDA.

He pleaded to the management of the EKEDC for the rehabilitation of the transformer power of two CDAs consisting of four major streets.

According to him, the distribution transformer has been down since October 2, leading to a complete blackout for almost three weeks.

Mrs. Joyce, another customer representing Cowrie Creek Estate, Ikate Elegushi, commended EKEDC for improved and stable power supply in the area. She also commended the Lekki District Manager and some of the technical officers for their promptness in attending to faults.