The Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Transmission Company of Nigeria, Sule Abdulaziz, has revealed why the country continues to witness grid collapse.
Abdulaziz revealed this on Sunday on a programme on Channels Television: “Sunday Politics,” offering solutions to the problem.
He said: “The transmission system needs a lot of investment.
“And for so many years in this country, that sector has been neglected.
“Most of the equipment we use is 50 years or 40 years.
Also Read:
- Five candidates cleared for AfDB presidency race – Committee
- EFCC docks lawyer over alleged N1.3b fraud
- Police arrest two for murder of woman accused of witchcraft in Borno community
- Legends lost! An era closes! A nation mourns! by Abiodun Komolafe
- President Tinubu and Baba Adebanjo: A ‘ringside’ story, by Tunde Rahman
“So it is not possible for those infrastructure to work perfectly.”
Asked what the TCN was doing to address the issue on a permanent basis, Abdulaziz said it was implementing a backup system to prevent nationwide blackouts in the event of a national grid collapse.
He said: “Presently, we are doing the scatter system for the whole network.
“And it is funded by the World Bank.
And the project will take two years to be completed.
“And now, we have done 70 percent of the project.
“Almost a month ago, we were at Gwagwalada (in Abuja) with the World Bank, where we celebrated the project.
“It is 70 percent completed.
“Once we have the scatter system, it will reduce the frequency of getting system disturbances.
“We are trying to upgrade all our transmission lines.”
Abdulaziz, who said the government might not have enough money to execute the project, revealed that the TCN was working in partnership with private companies to mobilise funds.
He added: “The Honourable Minister is now working with the Presidency to have that approval.
“This is what we call the super grid.
“By the time we have it, even if there is a fault in one transmission line, you can switch to the one so that we have an alternative, but now, the type of grid we have, once we have a problem with the line, you have no other line to switch on to.”
Follow The Eagle Online Channel on WhatsApp
