By Bassey Udo
To boost electricity supply to Katsina and Kano states, the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) plans to strengthen the capacity of the transmission lines with two units of 330 kV substations, its Managing Director, Sule Abdulaziz, has said.
Abdulaziz disclosed this while inspecting the 330/132/33kV Katsina Substation project and the Rimi Zakara Substation in Kano, at the weekend.
At the Katsina Substation, Abdulaziz said the transformers and structures were in place, with completion of work on the substation expected to improve the transmission of bulk power supply to Daura, Dutsinma, Kankara and Malumfashi Substations in the state.
“We are willing, and we want to ensure that we finish this substation within one year. We will also invite Mr. President to commission the substation,” Abdulaziz said
The transmission line that would bring bulk supply to the substation, the TCN head said, would be from Kano, earlier affected by Right-of-Way issues.
“TCN and the government are collaborating on this. Processes have been completed, and the contractor will soon be back to site to finish his work, and we will be able to commission this substation,” the MD said.
The substation facility, he said, has two units of 150 MVA power transformers and two units of 60 MVA power transformers.
The representative of the contractor to the Katsina project, Mustapha Maihajjo, lauded the current administration for fast tracking the funding to the Katsina Substation project.
He said since the coming of the present administration, the contractors have been able to procure about 95 percent of all the equipment required for the project, adding that the shipment of the materials, earlier delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic crisis, were now on ground.
The Special Assistant on Power and Energy to the Katsina State Governor, Mansur Ahmed Musa commended the Katsina Mega Substation for the project project.
“We have waited for it for a long time, and we cannot wait for it to be delivered. We believe that this project will be delivered timely as the contractor and the Managing Director of TCN promised,” Musa said.
At the 132/33kV Kankia Substation where the materials for the 330kV Kano to Katsina Transmission Line were stored, the MD of TCN said the company was using part of the station as a storage facility for the materials the contractor was using for the construction of the 330kV transmission line from Kano to Katsina.”
Abdulaziz also said contract for the construction of the line was awarded around 2010, but the Right of Way issues in Kano affected the project execution.
“We have discussed with the Kano government. They have assisted us with the payment for the land, while TCN has concluded processes for the structures. So the contractor is now free to continue construction of towers and eventually the lines. We want to make sure that within the one year remaining for this administration, we will be able to complete that transmission line, so that Mr President will commission the project”
At the 330/132/33kV Rimin Zakara Substation in Kano State, the MD said work started on the project some years back and has reached a very high level of completion.
“As you can see, the transformers, the switch gears, everything here is now almost 80 percent complete, and this is the second 330kV Substation in Kano.
“Everybody knows that after Lagos in Nigeria, the next city is Kano. But it has just one 330kV substation which is not enough. This new substation will bring to two the number of 330kV substations in Kano.
The substation, he said, was almost 80 percent completed, while the transmission line that would bring power to the substation was being executed.
He said that was why the Minister of Power, Abubakar D. Aliyu, asked him to embark on the visit to assess the current state of the project execution, to ensure it was being executed properly.
The MD explained that the substation also has two units of 150 MVA transformers and two units of 60 MVA transformers.
Also on clearing transmission line Right of Way to the substation, Abdulaziz confirmed that the Kano State government paid for the land, while TCN has concluded processes to pay for structures.
He said the government has also given land to relocate those whose lands were directly affected by the substation project, saying “by the time we complete this project, the line to Katsina will start from here and will feed the 330/132/33kV Katsina Substation.”
Abdulaziz also visited the 30 MVA 132/33kV mobile transmission Substation Bichi, executed in-house by TCN engineers. The substation has been completed and would improve bulk power requirement of the state water works, Bichi and environs.
