The Transmission Company of Nigeria has announced the addition of 600 megawatts to the national grid following the completion of the Ihovbor/Benin and Ihovbor/Ajaokuta 330kV Turn-In-Turn-Out Transmission Line Project in Edo State.
The Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of TCN, Sule Abdulaziz, disclosed this on Thursday during the official commissioning of the project.
Abdulaziz said the project marked another milestone in efforts to strengthen the nation’s transmission network and improve the evacuation of bulk electricity from the Ihovbor transmission substation to distribution load centres across the country.
He said: “This project involves the strategic linking of the existing Benin/Ajaokuta 330kV transmission line to the Ihovbor Transmission Substation, creating two new transmission routes with a total length of 14 kilometres.”
According to him, the completion of the project has improved operational flexibility and strengthened power delivery within the Benin corridor.
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 said the project would enable more efficient evacuation of electricity generated by the Azura Power Plant and the Niger Delta Power Holding Company plant.
He said: “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.
“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.” Abdulaziz noted that the grid system would allow electricity generated from the Benin axis to be transmitted to other parts of the country.
He said: “With the grid system, power generated from the Benin axis can easily be wheeled to any part of the country.” He added that the project reflected TCN’s commitment to improving transmission infrastructure and collaboration within the power sector.
Abdulaziz said: “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. “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.”
