The Transmission Company of Nigeria has debunked the allegation by the Benin Distribution Company that it is responsible for the power outages affecting certain regions within the DisCo’s service area.
This was disclosed in a statement by the TCN spokesperson, Ndidi Mbah on Wednesday.
She explained that although several of its substations are undergoing maintenance, none of them are connected to the Benin DisCo, despite what has been implied.
Mbah clarified that TCN had no affiliation with Benin DisCo and that their intention was to increase the second 30MVA power transformer at the Ondo Substation to a 60MVA capacity.
“The Transmission Company of Nigeria wishes to state that the details in the public announcement by Benin DisCo dated August 13, 2024, concerning TCN’s planned maintenance that is scheduled for tomorrow, Thursday, August 15, 2024, is misleading and incorrect.
“It is a fact that TCN has scheduled maintenance slated for tomorrow, Thursday, August 15, 2024, from 10 am to 7 pm to enable TCN contractor to divert the incoming 132kV line to the newly installed T1 60MVA power transformer (upgraded from 30MVA) in Ondo 132kV Transmission Substation. This will allow TCN to upgrade the second 30MVA power transformer T2 to 60MVA capacity; increasing the substation’s capacity to 2x60MVA from 2x30MVA capacity.
“However, none of the feeders highlighted by Benin DisCo in their release is connected to Ondo Transmission Substation. Outage in the areas they mentioned therefore has nothing to do with TCN,” Mbah said.
Benin DisCo had earlier informed its customers of a looming power outage in some of its service areas attributed to a substation upgrade by TCN.
The statement was disclosed through its official X handle on Tuesday, appealing to its customers to bear with the situation.
According to the statement, certain locations will experience power outages as the update is scheduled for August 15, 2024.
TCN, however, has refuted this assertion and stated that although it is upgrading its substations, Benin DisCo will not be impacted because the substations are not linked to the company’s service locations.
Nigeria’s electrical industry continues struggle with the problems posed by a shaky national grid, which frequently results in widespread blackouts.
