By Bassey Udo
To boost the level of electricity generation and supply throughout its franchise area, the Abuja Electricity Distribution Plc says it is exploring the prospect of deploying embedded power generation to complement the supply from the national grid.
The company disclosed this on Saturday in an update to its customers on “the terrible and persistent poor state of electricity supply to various homes and offices” in recent times.
The Managing Director/CEO of the AEDC, Adeoye Fadeyibi, who signed the statement said the company was working with other industry partners and stakeholders to address the broader problems of low generation and systems instability.
“We, the management of Abuja Electricity acknowledge the terrible and persistent poor state of electricity supply to your various homes and offices. We honestly feel your pains and trauma, and we plead for your continued understanding. While not absolving ourselves of our responsibilities, we are working in concert with other industry partners and stakeholders to address the broader problems of low generation and systems instability,” Fadeyibi said.
As part of the efforts by the company to fix the problem, the CEO identified some quick-win intervention projects the company was undertaking to quickly improve supply of power to Abuja and the adjourning states within its operational franchise area, which covers the Federal Capital Territory, Niger, Kogi and Nasarawa States.
Part of the projects the AEDC is working on, Fadeyibi said, include an embedded power generation system for which discussions have reached various stages with some Power developers capable of generating and supplying electricity within a few months time-line.
He whatever volume of electricity to be generated from the embedded power generation system would boost and complement the supply from the National Grid, especially for the purposes of improving electricity supply to Metropolitan FCT.
Apart from the problem of low generation currently being experienced nationwide as a result of epileptic state of electricity supply, the AEDC CEO said the company has also embarked on some 40 quick win projects to rehabilitate its electricity distribution network, to boost availability and customer satisfaction.
These projects, he said, range from deloading the over-loaded feeders, purchase of 81 new distribution transformers as well as the repair of 78 others, in addition carrying out major maintenance services on 34 power transformers at different locations across the franchise area.
“We assure you again that our sincere and much desired goal is to provide you with acceptable levels of power always. Our collective effort as a management team in the pursuit of this goal is not limited only to the above-mentioned interventions. We seek new ways everyday to achieve this objective very quickly and efficiently. And we commit to you that in a matter of weeks to a few months (staggered), depending on the duration of these different projects, the power supply situation overall will be significantly improved,” he said.
While expressing appreciation to its customers for their patience and understanding as the company continues to strive to fix the fast deteriorating situation, Fadeyibi assured the company would do its best to meet consumers expectations in having world class power supply in the Abuja franchise area.
Following the intermittent occurrence of systems collapse in recent times, which cut down available electricity capacity from about 3,628.6 megawatts to less than 10 MW, the electricity distribution company have had to resort to massive rationing of supply, with sections of the area having to go for several days with electricity, while the supply to others have limited to a cumulative few hours every week.
