The federal government has formally inaugurated a new electricity transmission sub-station constructed in Karu, Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja under the World Bank inspired National Energy Development Project (NEDP).
The 2x60MVA, 132/33kV transmission sub-station and its associated equipment was opened for operation by the Minister of Power, Prof. Chinedu Nebo yesterday in Abuja.
Nebo also said government's efforts at reviving Nigeria's spent power sector was beginning to yield the desired results with its imminent handover of the sector to private operators and its ongoing inauguration of power facilities constructed under the National Integrated Power Projects (NIPP).
He noted that the new sub-station would boost electricity supply to residents of Karu, Mararaba, Nyanya, Masaka, Jikwoi, Karshi and neighbouring parts of Nasarawa State with new daily supply duration of about 15 to 18 hours as against the previously unpredictable supply patterns, which was said to be about four hours.
"With today's inauguration, the transmission inadequacy in Karu area has been squarely addressed, more so with the upgrading of the over-stretched 33kV transmission line all the way from Apo transmission sub-station to the current 132kV line is to reduce technical losses.
"Also, the hitherto inadequate 30MVA power transformer capacity has now been upgraded to 120MVA to accommodate the higher load demand forecast.
This project will certainly act as a catalyst for the development of small and medium scale businesses, promoting industrial growth in these areas, and subsequently, impacting positively on the well-being and overall living standards of individual families," Nebo said in his remarks.
He explained that similar electricity transmission infrastructure were been constructed nationwide to ensure sustainable electricity evacuation, adding that government would remain committed to its plans for the country's power sector.
The General Manager of the Project Management Unit (PMU) of the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), Joseph Ciroma, disclosed that the transmission project was awarded to the Joint Venture (JV) of Shreem-Jyoti-MBH Power Engineering consortium on September 13, 2007 at the cost of $6,066,739.06 while its construction started in January, 2008.
Ciroma, whose PMU oversees the World Bank -assisted NEDP, noted that the scope of the contract included the design, manufacture, delivery, installation and commissioning of the 2 X 60MVA, 132/33kV transformer substation with all associated equipment including the provision of six outgoing 33KV feeders and the re-conducting of 10 kilometre Apo-Karu 132kV transmission line with higher current carrying capacity conductor to allow the flow of more power to the new sub-station for the benefit of its host communities.
He also said Karu was chosen to host the sub-station by the World Bank in conjunction with the Abuja distribution company and TCN chiefly to identify the worst scenario within the satellite towns in Abuja, that had serious electricity supply challenges but also with future economic potentials in terms of small and medium scale businesses that could transform the livelihood of the people with the provision of adequate, qualitative and reliable power supply.
NEDP aims to support Nigeria's energy sector reform effort and facilitate the sector's smooth transition to the new market and institutional structure. It was approved by World Bank on July 1, 2005 and a similar transmission sub-station was constructed and commissioned in Kubwa in 2010.
Meanwhile, the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) has been adjudged as the most transparent government institution to transparently respond to request for public procurement information by a Non-governmental Organisation, the Public and Private Development Center (PPDC).
NERC was ranked top by PPDC from 15 public institutions in Nigeria with one representing the most transparent and 15, the least transparent. Other public institutions like the Nigerian Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative (NEITI), National Automotive Council (NAC) and the Rural Electrification Agency (REA) were featured in the transparency poll.
A statement from NERC indicated that the criteria for the survey was that the surveyed public institutions were ranked based on four criteria which are proactive disclosures, responsiveness to requests for information, cost of disclosure to the requester and the level of disclosure.
It added that PPDC's rationale for rating transparency levels in the public procurement process of government agencies had arisen from the fact that public expenditure that is budgeted for the provision of public goods is required to pass through the procurement process of the country.
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