The management of Niger Delta Power Holding Company (NDPHC) has embarked on a project that will improve power supply by additional 300MW to the national grid.
He however decried a situation whereby the available power will not get to the end-users or final consumers.
He said that is the reason his agency, NDPHC is collaborating with the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources in Lagos State to find lasting solution to the challenges of stranded power and ensure that such stranded power gets to the final consumers.
According to him, “We have electricity to serve Nigerians but it is stranded either at power stations or transmission stations like this one we are, because there are few challenges (which are) why people are not being serviced and the Discos cannot pick the load from here.
“We are collaborating seriously with the Lagos State government to make sure that this available electricity gets to the end-users.”
He said the project, which includes construction of 132Kv Multi Circuit Transmission Lines, is facing the problem of Way Leave, which means a right of way to be granted by landowners to erect the transmission lines.
“The project has been on but we have serious Way Leave challenges. We have enlisted the support of Lagos State Government and also Ogun State Government and they actively trying to assist us to resolve the challenges along the line routes.
“We have come to see, to assess and know where the challenges are. Lagos State Government has a programme and they need to see availability of energy here and ascertain that they can actually take the energy here and make sure it gets to the consumers in Lagos State.
“After the site visit, I’m sure the commissioner has seen and he is convinced that energy here is stranded as a matter of fact because as we have seen that we have seven feeders going out of here that should have taken at least 100MW, but the feeders between the two distribution companies (Ibadan and Ikeja Discos) are doing less than 30MW.
“We called the Ikeja Disco, they told us what the challenges are which we are working with Lagos State Government to see how we can resolve that. We have seven feeders with four going to Akute, New Iju, Yidi and Lambe, all under Ikeja Electric. They all go to Ikeja Electric injection substations where it is further distributed to the end-users at 11kV lines.
“Under Ibadan Disco, we have Ibafo, which services The Redeemed Camp, Magboro and its environs. There are Dangote and Ijoko lines too. We are also here to ensure that they (Discos) are picking loads,” he said.
Meanwhile, Mr. Lere Odusote, Commissioner for Energy and Mineral Resources, Lagos State, commended the management of NDPHC for its interventions in Nigeria, especially in Lagos State and assured that the government will do all in its power to resolve the Way Leave challenge.
According to him, “What I found out here is that there is capacity that can supply more power to Lagos State. If you look at what we have here, we have about 500MW capacity available to be evacuated out of which we have100MW capacity of transformers that is actually going out.
“We can do a lot more than that, from the discussion with the distribution companies in Lagos and with the intervention we are trying to carry out with the NDPHC, we realized that we actually need the power to come from here to Lagos. Now, our Light Up Lagos Program will certainly depend on power being available on the grid, the interventions with the Discos will not amount to much of there is no (Power) supply. So we expect that engagement and interactions with NDPHC will be able to do more for Lagos,” he said.
