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As part of plans to transform Ijora and make it a business hub of the nation, the Federal Government on Monday replaced two old transformers which have served the area for decades.
Commissioning the transformers, Minister of Power, Joseph Tegbe, said that the significance of the event goes beyond the commissioning of the two transformers. It is about supporting the industries, ports, commercial centres and communities that keep Lagos moving; it is about delivering on the promise of a more prosperous Nigeria.
According to him, the Ijora 132/33kV Transmission Substation has served the people and economy of Lagos for many years. But, like much of the transmission infrastructure, it has had to contend with growing demand against infrastructure that was not upgraded at the same pace.
He noted that the original Ijora substation was equipped with three 30MVA transformers, providing a total installed capacity of 90MVA, equivalent to approximately 72MW.
Tegbe explained that as the population, commercial activity and industrial base within the Eko Electricity Distribution Company (EEDC) franchise area expanded, that capacity became increasingly inadequate.
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“The consequence was what we have come to know all too well in our electricity sector: suppressed load, constrained supply and businesses having to operate below their potential. Today, we are changing that story. This improvement represents a substantial intervention. Two of the existing 30MVA transformers have been replaced with two modern 100MVA, 132/33kV transformers, resulting in an increase of the total installed capacity of the Ijora substation from 90MVA to 230MVA, equivalent to 184MW. That represents an additional 112MW of bulk transmission capacity that will translate into real economic value.
“This remarkable increase in transmission capacity will significantly improve power supply to Ijora, Costain, Oyingbo, Customs and adjoining communities, while supporting commercial activities and millions of electricity consumers within the Eko Electricity Distribution Company (EEDC) franchise area,” he said.
Earlier, the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer (MD/CEO) of Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), Engineer Sule Abdulaziz, explained that the objective of the exercise was to create a power system that can reliably deliver electricity to where it is needed, when it is needed, and at a quality and cost that supports economic activity.
This, according to him, required TCN to confront every part of the value chain. For many years, he said, transmission infrastructure has been one of the major constraints in the efforts to provide reliable electricity.
“We have generated electricity that cannot adequately be evacuated; we have had available generation constrained by transmission limitations; we have had growing demand without corresponding improvement of transmission capacity; and we have inherited infrastructure that, in several locations, suffered from years of inadequate maintenance and delayed investment. This is not a criticism of the men and women who have worked within the system under difficult circumstances,” he stated.
