FG Maps 3,937 settlements, 3.2m buildings on power grid

By Godwin Anyebe

The federal government has mapped out 3,937 settlements and 3.2 million buildings that are connected to the national electricity grid, said the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Power, Temitope Fashedemi.

Speaking while chairing the 5th National Council on Power (NACOP) in Abuja Fashedemi said: “The ministry through collaboration under Nigerian Energy Support Program (NESP) has achieved the following; mapped over 3,937 settlements, 3,244,605 buildings and 60,183km of 11 kilovolts and 33kV medium voltage line of the grid in 23 states. The data provides information for electrification planning, least cost of electrification, electricity access and decision making.”

Fashedemi however said there are still serious concerns in the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry (NESI), which have caused a funding crisis and inadequate power supply.

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Also speaking, the Managing Director and CEO of the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), Sule Abdulaziz, said TCN has awarded contracts reconstructing 16 transmission lines, and 17 new projects to reinforce the grid for optimal evacuation and transmission of bulk electricity.

He also said the company recently built 10 substations in Jigawa, Kano, Edo and other states to improve the bulk electricity available to DisCos.

The Managing Director of the Nigerian Electricity Management Services Agency (NEMSA), Engr. Tukur Aliyu, urged the NACOP to accelerate the demolition of structures under power lines’ right of way, noting that since NEMSA’s directive to DisCos, 5,000 of such structures have been disconnected to prevent electrical accidents.

The General Manager, Market Competitions and Rates at the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), Shafurddeen Mahmoud, in a presentation, explained that NERC initiated the Service Base Tariff (SBT), which he said ensures that DisCos bill customers only according to the hour of supply they receive to cushion arbitrary billings.