TCN expands national grid with additional 600MW

The Transmission Company of Nigeria has disclosed that the country’s national grid has received an additional 600 megawatts following the completion of a major transmission infrastructure project in Edo State.

The announcement was made on Thursday by the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of TCN, Sule Abdulaziz, during the inauguration of the Ihovbor/Benin and Ihovbor/Ajaokuta 330kV Turn-In-Turn-Out transmission line project.

Abdulaziz described the development as a significant step towards improving the nation’s electricity transmission capacity and ensuring more effective delivery of power from generation plants to consumers across the country.

According to him, the project connected the existing Benin/Ajaokuta 330kV transmission line to the Ihovbor Transmission Substation, thereby creating two fresh transmission routes spanning about 14 kilometres.

He said, “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 the Benin corridor through this connection to the power plant.”

The TCN boss explained that the new arrangement would allow the company to evacuate electricity more efficiently from the Azura Power Plant and the Niger Delta Power Holding Company facility.

“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,” he stated.

Abdulaziz further noted that the initiative would reduce pressure on the transmission system while improving electricity supply to distribution companies nationwide.

“This has equally helped in alleviating transmission bottlenecks, enhanced system reliability, while allowing the distribution companies access to more bulk electricity for their customers nationwide. With this, we have added 600 megawatts to the national grid,” he said.

He also stressed that the interconnected nature of the national grid would make it easier to transmit electricity generated from the Benin axis to different parts of the country.

“With the grid system, power generated from the Benin axis can easily be wheeled to any part of the country,” he added.

Abdulaziz maintained that the project reflected TCN’s commitment to modernising the transmission network and improving collaboration within the power sector.

“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,” he said.

He added that the new infrastructure would help address situations where generated electricity could not previously be transmitted to consumers.

“Before, there was power that was generated without evacuation, but now we are going to evacuate more power, which means Nigerians would be getting a more powerful supply,” Abdulaziz stated.