The Transmission Company of Nigeria has said it plans to inject $8 billion to upgrade its operations so as to achieve 20,000 Megawatts electricity supply in the country.
Tribune reports
THE Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) plans to inject $8 billion to upgrade its operations, to achieve 20,000 megawatts electricity supply in the country, its Executive Director, Mohammed Shaike, has disclosed.
Receiving members of the Senate Committee on Privatisation, led by its chairman, Senator Olugbenga Obadara, who visited the company’s regional office in Osogbo, Osun State, in continuation of their oversight visit, Shaike said TCN would work jointly with the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission to achieve the target.
He informed the senators that in its determination to develop the technical manpower of the company, TCN’s management contractors, Manitoba International, had trained some of the technical staff abroad to acquire technical and strategic skills.
Also speaking, TCN’s General Manager, M.J. Lawal, said the company’s power lines accommodated a maximum voltage of 330KV and that its transmission coverage extends to Benin and Niger Republics.
Lawal said despite the low power generation from the companies, plans were on to upgrade the transmission lines to accommodate more voltage to distribute to the distribution companies.
Lawal listed the challenges faced by the company to include poor office accommodation, lack of safety facilities and lack of training for the technical staff.
Responding, Obadara decried the low level of investment in power generation, resulting in unstable and unreliable power supply in the country.
At the Nigeria Machine Tools Limited, its Managing Director, Norbert Chukumah, gave a brief history of the company, which includes the production of spare parts based on specifications.
Chukwumah said since its privatisation in 2007, the company had embarked on massive rehabilitation and upgrade of its facilities to bring it to modern standards.
Obadara urged the company to take the company to the Capital Market, to raise more funds for its operations.