Nigerian Government assures of December deadline for completion of AFD-funded transmission project in Abuja
Oredola Adeola
The Nigerian Government has assured that the contractors handling the French Development Agency, AFD-funded reinforcement of high-voltage transmission ring project around Abuja, tagged: “Abuja Feeding Scheme” are committed to completing the project between November and December, 2022.
Engr. Abubakar D. Aliyu, Minister of Power, made this known at the weekend when he was accompanied by Engr. Dr Sule Abdulaziz, MD/CEO, TCN, to the 2x60MVA, 132/33kV GIS Substation in Dawaki, Abuja, being part of the official tour of the TCN Abuja Ring Projects comprising 5No substations and 1No 330kV transmission lines.
Engr. Abdulaziz, TCN MD, had in October, 2022, expressed dissatisfaction about the slow pace of work done by General Electric(GE) the contractor in charge of the construction of the 2x150MVA 330/132/33KV substation at New Apo.
The TCN had during the inspection of the substation disclosed that GE has performed abysmally on the project, insisting that the contracts for all the substations were signed at the same time. He had then noted that the contractor does not have a genuine reason for the slow pace of work.
EnergyDay’s check showed that the project comprised of two 330kV substations and three 132kV substations specifically dedicated to permanently address power transmission issues in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT)Abuja and environs over the next 50 years.
Meanwhile the Minister of Power, during the inspection on Friday, restated the Federal Government’s plans to increase the TCN wheeling capacity by over 1000 Megawatts to boost electricity supply.
Aliyu said this while inspecting the project said that the projects which are six in number were made up of lines and substations, adding that when completed it will increase TCN’s willing capacity with over 1000 Megawatts (MW).
He said, “The project is about six and they are over 90 per cent completed and hope to be completed Nov, Dec, the contractor is chasing the completion date and when completed it will increase power supply in Abuja and environ.
”This project is funded by a loan of 170 million dollars from the French Development Agency (AFD) and started by President Muhammadu Buhari’s Administration in 2018 in the quest to increase the capacity the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry (NESI), ”he said.
The minister said that the projects consist of a new substation in Dawaki, Gwarinpa, New Apo substation, Old Apo existing substation amongst others.
According to him, there has been a 132 Kilo Volt (KV)line existing from Suleja to Katampe which initially was at Kubwa.
He said the new substation would give Dawaki and environ more electricity as they have been depending on Kubwa.
He said that a platform had been built at Old Apo Substation to receive a 60 Mega Volt Ampree transformer from the Siemens Power Project and that in a couple of days, it will be installed.
”The new Apo substation is a new one and is recieving a 330 KVA line from Nassarawa to boost supply in Abuja and environ, ” he said.
EnergyDay gathered that the Abuja transmission scheme is almost two years behind completion schedule, as the completion timeline was originally scheduled for maximum of 24 months after taking-off in April 2019.
The contract cost of the project was $170 million (N61.149 billion) funded through a grant offered to the Nigerian Government by the AFD for the upgrade of transmission network around the FCT, which presently has only two 330kV substations.
At the end of the project, TCN is expected to now operate four(4) 330kV and three 132kV substations with the new installations of 143 kilometers of 330 Kilo Volts (KVs) and 81 kilometers of 132 KV transmission lines in Abuja and its environs thereby adding 817 Megawatts (MWs) of electricity to the national grid.