From Isaac Anumihe, Abuja
In view of the inability of Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) to transmit enough electricity due to ageing and dilapidated infrastructure, Federal Government, yesterday indicated plans to unbundle the company into two.
In his opening remarks, at the Ministerial Retreat on the Integrated National Electricity Policy and Strategic Implementation Plan, in Abuja, Minister of Power, Chief Adebayo Adelabu said that it was time to restructure TCN into two entities———-the Independent System Operator (ISO) and the Transmission Service Provider.
The Minister decried the low performance of TCN in the electricity supply industry, saying that the only way to make it functional and more effective is to balkanise it.
“The Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry (NESI) transmission sub-sector has been identified as a critical weak point in the value chain lately, a view widely shared. To align with the Electricity Act 2023 and the industry’s demands, it’s time to restructure the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) into two entities: the Independent System Operator (ISO) and the Transmission Service Provider (TSP). This restructuring must synchronise with the evolving landscape of State Electricity Markets, addressing calls for the decentralisation of the national grid into regional grids interconnected by a new higher voltage national or super-grid” he said.
According to him, the nation now generates over 98 per cent of electricity through renewable as against the 70.5 per cent generated last year.
“As at 2022, 70.5 per cent of our grid electricity was generated by thermal plants, 27.3 per cent from hydro, whilst solar and other power plants made up 2.2 per cent. The good news here is that over 98 per cent of the feedstock powering electricity generation in the country are transition or clean fuels, as Nigeria ramps up capacity to generate more electricity through renewable means such as solar, hydro, wind, bioenergy and others” he said
Adelabu regretted that electricity consumption in Nigeria is low compared to other neighbouring African countries.
“One of the main objectives of the Nigerian electricity sector reform programme initiated over 23 years ago is to make electricity available to consumers across the country with efficiency and consistency, which in turn lead to general reliability and affordability. Even as electricity consumption per capita was at 140 KWh in 2021, relatively low in comparison to neighbouring countries and almost three times lower than the average for Sub-Saharan Africa, Nigeria is a case study in a deep electricity paradox. Nigeria has grown to become the host of probably the world’s largest fleet of diesel- and petrol-powered generation capacity that is utilised for baseload supply. Various figures have been mentioned but it is safe to say that this fleet measures no less that 40,000MW of total capacity. At an average operating cost of no less than N250/kWh as opposed to an average economic tariff today of approximately N120/kWh (weighted between petrol and diesel generation), the daily cost of this extreme inefficiency in electricity supply in Nigeria, is measurable in tens of billions of naira daily” he stated.
Recall that TCN’s general manager for the Port Harcourt region, Inugonum, at the weekend, said that the country is supposed to transmit about 15,000MW, but “we are unable to meet this capacity due to weak and ageing infrastructure” he said