TCN says DISCOs network poses challenge to electricity supply

Joseph Inokotong, Abuja

Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) has said that the Distribution Companies (DISCOs) network is one of the major challenges confronting regular power supply to electricity consumers in the country.

Managing Director of TCN, Mr. Usman Mohammed said this on the sidelines of the Capacity Building Training Programme it organized for the staff of Transmission Service Provider (TSP) and National Power Training Institute in Nigeria (NAPTIN).

Mohammed said “that is why we are asking that attention should focus on expanding the distribution network because this is where we have biggest challenge for generation.

“You have to understand that power industry is like a generator in the house. If you have a 20kva generator in the house and the house is on 20kva wire, if the load is 5kva, the generator will only generate 5kva.

“Since the distribution companies don’t have capacity for 20kva, it will only get 5kva out. At present, some companies are willing to generate more, but we are not ready to collect because ones you pick it you must pay, but we cannot pay for what you are not using.”

The TCN managing director said that the company had fixed many power lines that were not working in the last two years.

“We have fixed several lines that have been out for years. If you look at Kanji and Jebba, one line has been existing for over five years before we came in, but we have put the second line and both are working now.

“The same thing applies to Kaduna, Abuja and Ajaokuta in 2015 when they commissioned it, only one line was working, but we have fixed the second line. We have just procured four reactors to fix design problems between the line in Jos, Makurdi and Ikot-Ekpene.

“We are not only fixing lines, we are also solving problems that exist in the network,” he said.