TCN boosts national grid with additional 600 megawatts

The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) on Thursday said it had added an additional 600 megawatts to the national grid.

The Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of TCN, Sule Abdulaziz, made the announcement during the official commissioning of the Ihovbor/Benin and Ihovbor/Ajaokuta 330kV Turn-In-Turn-Out Transmission Line Project in Edo State.

Speaking at the event, Abdulaziz said the project marked another “milestone in our collective journey to strengthen the nation’s transmission network to enable us evacuate more bulk electricity from Ihovbor transmission substation to distribution load centres nationwide.”

According to him, “This project involves the strategic linking of the existing Benin/Ajaokuta 330kV transmission line to the Ihovbor Transmission Substation, creating two new transmission routes with a total length of 14 kilometres.

“With the completion of this strategic project, we have increased the operational flexibility of the transmission network and strengthened the resilience of power delivery within Benin corridor by this connection to the power plant.

“The importance of this project cannot be overstated. It grants TCN the ability to more efficiently evacuate power generated by the Azura Power Plant and the Niger Delta Power Holding Company plant. This has equally helped in alleviating transmission bottlenecks, enhanced system reliability, while allowing the distribution companies access to more bulk electricity for its customers nationwide.”

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Abdulaziz noted that, with the national grid system, the new transmission line would enable more efficient wheeling of bulk electricity to any part of the country.

He added that, with the grid system, power generated from the Benin axis could easily be wheeled to any part of the country.

“Beyond the enhanced flexibility in power evacuation, this project is another step towards our goal of developing a strong and efficient transmission grid. It also showcases TCN’s dedication to ongoing improvement, innovation, and collaboration with stakeholders in the power sector,” Abdulaziz said.

He added that “before, there was power being generated without evacuation, but now we are going to evacuate more power, which means Nigerians would be getting more power supply.”