The Federal Government has concluded plans to unbundle the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), into two entities to effectively tackle the challenges of dilapidated and ageing infrastructure, frequent grid collapse and inability to provide seamless transmission of electricity across the country.
The Minister of Power, Chief Adebayo Adelabu, disclosed this at the Ministerial Retreat on the Integrated National Electricity Policy and Strategic Implementation Plan, held in Abuja. Adelabu said that it was time to restructure TCN into two entities, the Independent System Operator (ISO) and the Transmission Service Provider.
Adelabu who decried the low performance of TCN in the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry (NESI), noted that the only way to make it functional and effective is to balkanise it.
According to the minister, the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry, transmission sub-sector has been identified as a critical weak point in the value chain lately, a view widely shared by players in the industry.
“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.
He disclosed that the country now generates over 98 per cent of electricity through renewable energy sources as against the 70.5 per cent generated last year. Adelabu however, regretted that electricity consumption in Nigeria is low compared to other neighbouring African countries
“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.
“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 utilized for baseload supply.
“Various figures have been mentioned but it is safe to say that this fleet measures no less than 40,000MW of total capacity.
“At an average operating cost of no less than =N=250/kWh as opposed to an average economic tariff today of approximately =N=120/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,” the minister said.
Meanwhile, TCN has said that electricity supply has been restored in many parts of the country after the national grid system experienced a total collapse on Monday.
The company said presently, the power supply has been restored except for the Jos axis, which will soon have supply within the hour.
The spokesperson of TCN, Mrs Ndidi Mbah announced in a terse statement she issued this evening that the collapse happened by 13.49 this afternoon. It is now fully restored by 18.51
The National Grid, transmitting electricity to millions of households across Nigeria, has experienced collapse severally in recent times.
On each occasion, the National Grid collapsed it will leaving millions of citizens without electricity supply.
