The managing director of Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) Abdulaziz Sule has urged the Senate Committee on Power to assist in raising funds for the completion of over 120 projects that would improve the transmission network in the country.
The TCN boss made this call when the committee visited the company on an oversight function yesterday in Abuja.
Sule, who urged the committee to also help in addressing the issue of right of way, also sought the committee’s intervention to increase budgetary allocation, saying that the N2 billion allocation from the 2024 budget is not enough for its operations.
According to him, vandalization is a huge challenge hampering the projects in the North East and South East.
He revealed that the company is collaborating with a Chinese firm to build a super grid. He added that “there is a need for funding for new substations”.
In her presentation, Independent System Operator (ISO) Executive Director, Engr. Nafisat Ali revealed that gas has become a major constraint in the industry. She said, “Today there is no gas. We need gas”.
She said the DisCos were still rejecting load despite the power shortage in the country. “The DisCos don’t abide by allocation. That is the challenge”, said Ali.
According to the TCN, Nigeria has witnessed six power grid collapses in the year 2024. The gas shortage for power generation and the vandalism of power infrastructure are said to be responsible for the recurrent incidents of grid collapse in the country.
The minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu had earlier informed the committee that the federal government owes the Generation Companies over N1.3 trillion and also owes the gas suppliers $1.3 billion.
He said the gas suppliers have refused to supply more gas because of the debt.
The minister urged the committee to address the debt matter.
The minister said plans are currently on to ramp up power generation to a target of 6,000 Megawatts from 4,000 MW by the end of 2024.
The power minister lamented the over-dependence on the national grid and noted that a different target of 10-12,000 transmission capacity has been set for the next three years.
He also noted that the frequent grid collapse was due to a lack of Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA).
According to him, the President Tinubu led administration is determined to break the 4,000MW jinx that has spanned decades prior to his appointment as the 47th minister of power.
Responding, the chairman of Senate Committee on Power, Senator Eyinnaya Abaribe dismissed him, stressing that the ministry has been complaining about SCADA procurement in the last 12 years without addressing it.
Abaribe expressed worry that despite the huge sums of money injected into the power sector, the key players still lamented an avalanche of challenges and questioned why the TCN and other agencies in the power sector had consistently allowed the collapse of the power grid over the years.
He noted that the committee would interface with the federal government to settle the gas debt.
He said: “Every option for us is on the table. If the option is for us to interface with the federal government to do their part because it is a debt, so they have to pay their debt, we will do so”.
He said he would not doubt the minister that the World Bank SCADA project will be completed in two years.
According to him, the committee will focus its oversight on the ministry and the TCN concerning the implementation of the World Bank project.
He noted that the committee has invited the NERC and other stakeholders to answer some questions concerning the recently reviewed tariff on 29 April.
The chairman said the committee would review the penalties for power assets vandalization.
Leading members of the senate, Senator Abaribe alongside the Power Minister and other officials, also inspected some projects before meeting members and staff of the transmission company of Nigeria at a separate meeting.
