Infrastructure
Constance Athekame
The Niger Delta Power Holding Company (NDPHC) says it has invested N500 billion on transmission infrastructure nationwide.
Mrs Olufunke Nwankwo, General Manager, Corporate Communication and External Relations (NDPHC) said this in a statement in Abuja on Friday.
She quoted the Managing Director of NDPHC), Mrs. Jennifer Adighije as saying this when she led the company’s management team on an inspection tour of the 330/132/33 Kilo Volt (kV) Lafia Transmission Substation.
Nwankwo said that the substation was constructed by NDPHC and inaugurated in 2022 adding that the project is a critical component of Nigeria’s power infrastructure.
Adighije said that as a government intervention agency, NDPHC has invested approximately N500 billion in developing transmission infrastructure and networks across the country.
According to her, the over N500 billion invested in transmission projects was for transmission lines, line-bay extensions, transformers, substations adding that this was done across the entire power sector.
She described the Lafia facility as world-class, noting that it has significantly improved the quality of power supply to Nasarawa State and surrounding states.
She said: “We are at the Lafia transmission substation, which is a project that was delivered by NDPHC and handed over to the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN).
”It is a 330/132/33KV transmission substation, comprising two numbers 150 Megan Volt Ampree (MVA) transformers, two numbers 60 MVA transformers, and one by 75 MVA reactor.
”And as you can see, this project was delivered as a world-class standard, this is one of the best that one can ever find internationally, in line with global best practices and standards.
”The mandate of the NDPHC was very clear in terms of our delivery of projects, because we are an entity essentially that provides backbone services for the sector, ensuring that we deliver projects that would impact the entire w electricity value chain,”she said.
The managing director also said that in spite of the liquidity crisis that the power sector was facing, the team was in Lafia to reaffirm their commitment to President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda, which aims to scale up power generation, transmission, and distributed access to electricity.
While debunking claims that the company was unable to generate power optimally, she said that the NDPHC has more capacity than transmission can carry.
“Let me put it to Nigerians, that for those that have been saying that the NDPHC were unable to generate optimally, the real issues are that we actually have a generation in excess of the transmission availability.
”Therefore, at NDPHC we are unrelenting, we are undeterred, and will continue to dedicate resources to ensure that we scale transmission to evacuate the stranded generation that we have,”she said.
Adighije who also led the team on a visit to the Governor of Nasarawa State, Abdullahi Sule, thanked the him for his support to the company.
She said that the enactment of the Electricity Act has opened up the power sector, with stakeholders now able to transact business bilaterally.
“We are now empowered to be able to stimulate market activities, even here in Nassarawa State, that would ensure that we deliver access to electricity to the last mile.
” This will be of benefit to Nassarawa State, NDPHC and to the common good of Nigerians,”she said.
The governor in his response commented Adighije for her leadership qualities, stating that that had led to significant transformation of the company.
He said that despite having the excellent transmission facility, power supply to the state has been challenging due to poor distribution network.
”We are actually probably transmitting less than we can distribute. So you need all those partners. So the way you are visiting me, please visit all these Electricity Distribution Companies (DisCos).
“It’s very important for them to know that it’ is a total waste for you to end up generating electricity and they are not taken because you need off-takers when you generate.
”If the off-takers are not taking load, you cannot make your money,”he said.
The managing director was accompanied on the visit by the Executive Director Generation,Mr Kassim Abdullahi, Executive Director, Legal Services, Mr Steven Andzenge, and Executive Director, Networks, Mr Bello Babayo.(