The Central Bank of Nigeria, the Transmission Company of Nigeria, and power distribution companies will complete 53 power projects worth N122 billion that are currently under construction across the country in May of next year.
The Punch reported that the projects’ lead program coordinator for TCN, Mathew Ajibade, stated that when they were finished, the projects would increase the company’s wheeling capacity by over 1,000 megawatts. The tour of three of the projects, which are situated at the Ojo, Isolo, and Oworonshoki Transmission stations in Lagos, conducted on Wednesday.
“The projects are currently being carried out in coordination with the Discos technical team and TCN field engineers by the project management office at TCN headquarters.
“The projects must be finished by May 2024 at the latest. Despite obstacles, PMO moved forward with the program’s implementation and is dedicated to making sure it is carried out successfully,” he stated.
Ajibade clarified that the projects are still in progress and will be completed on schedule, refuting popular speculation that they have been abandoned.
According to the Assistant Director/Head of the CBN’s Infrastructure Finance Office, the loan for the project was released by the central bank in August of last year at an interest rate of 9%.
In keeping with its power sector intervention, the CBN authorized N122, 289, 344 for the Nigeria Electricity Market Stabilization Facility-3 program, based on project estimates for the designated projects.
“The facility intends to free up the nation’s underutilized generation capacity and remove transmission/distribution interface bottlenecks to enhance supply to end users,” he stated.
He continued by saying that N85.43 billion had already been deposited into the 53 contractors’ Advance Payment Guarantee accounts in order to carry out the projects.
Eight 150MVA power transformers, nineteen 1000MVA transformers, sixty 60MVA transformers, re-conductoring existing transmission lines (conductors & Accessories), modernizing the current 132/33KV substations, and building 33KV line bays were among the projects’ requirements.
