The Transmission  Company of Nigeria (TCN) says its current transmission  expansion initiative  is designed to increase the nation’s  grid transmission capacity to 20,000 mega watts in the next three years.
TCN’s Managing Director, Mr Usman Mohammed, disclosed this at a meeting  in Abuja on the impact assessment study for the second Ikeja West 330kv transmission reinforcement project.
The meeting  between TCN and West Africa Power Pool (WAPP) was designed to kick start discussions on the study and completion of  the Ikeja West 330kv transmission line .
The line was designed to supply   electricity from Nigeria to Benin Republic and the  West Africa sub-region.
Mohammed said it was necessary to begin the discussion to complete the second  Ikeja West 330kv transmission line  given the increase in demand for more power from the grid .
He also said that TCN had recorded some achievements in stabilising the grid, adding that  the stability had heightened  the prospect of the interconnection of Nigerian grid with that of neighbouring  countries.
According to Mohammed, TCN is  no longer the weakest link in the power value chain.
He further said TCN had been  accelerating  the implementation of several  transmission  projects with support from the Federal Government  and  some international donor agencies.
“TCN has come out with the expansion programme and some of the projects had gone far in their implementation.
“The transmission expansion line seeks to expand the grid to about 20,000 megawatts  capacity  in the next three years .
“It is also intended to support the current  institutional  reform  that will make TCN a   21st  century compliant  transmission company,’’ he said.
He also  said that TCN had deployed  its  in-house capacity to install transformers all  over  the country .
“Last week,  we installed three transformers  in Lagos,  on Friday next week,  we will complete  the commissioning  of two transformers,  one in Zaria and another one in Funtua.
“In the next two weeks again, we are installing  three transformers  in Port Harcourt region and they  will be installed  using in- house capacity  at  a cost of less than 10 per cent  of what was used with contractors,’’ he said.
He said TCN,  as the biggest contributor to WAPP, was interested  in strengthening it  to  archive its objectives for the region.
“ TCN is supporting not only the network expansion  programme  but also institutional  reform  aimed at repositioning  WAPP for its role in the region,’’ he said.
Mohammed said the Ikeja West 330kv transmission reinforcement project would be completed by 2021.
The Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Power, Mr  Loius Edozie,  said Ikeja West 330kv project was in line with Federal Government’s  commitment to developing  the electricity market in Nigeria and other countries in West Africa.
He said TCN’s achievements on network, frequency stability and  the development of  the West African Power Pool were all critical issues.
Edozie said given the development in the power sector, Nigeria was disposed to wheeling more electricity to its international customers.
He, however, said that the primary obligation was to serve Nigerians first.
Edozie said it was necessary that all outstanding bills were paid immediately and payment mechanism put in place to ensure bills were  paid as  and when due.
He said that there was also the need to for the  distribution companies (DISCOs) to improve  their investment in order  to supply more electricity  to Nigerians.
“Generally, as DISCOs are making efforts to expand, TCN and Generation Companies (GenCos) are also expanding to stay ahead of the requirement,” he added.