Th e Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) has secured about $1.5 billion dollars from donor agencies to fi nance power transmission projects in Ogun state and other parts of the country. The Managing Director of the company, Mr. Usman Gur Mohammed, disclosed this during a courtesy visit to the state Governor, Senator Ibikunle Amosun, in his offi ce in Abeokuta. According to him, “TCN would require land in places, such as, Lukosi, in Abeokuta; Redemption Camp and Mountain of Fire Ministries area, along the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway corridor as well as Ajegunle, very close to Agbara and Arigbajo axis. “
The land would be used for building sub stations that will help to expand the nation’s transmission capacity, adding that the sum of $1.5 billion dollars has already been secured from donor agencies to fi nance the project,’’ he explained. He stated that TCN cannot expand its transmission capacity without the active collaboration of the state governments, especially in the area of getting the right of way to acquire additional lands and payment of compensation to people, who may be displaced.
M e a n w h i l e , M r. E m e k a Okpukpara, Partner Nextier Power, has called on TCN to address the options contained in the Electric Power Sector Reform, EPSR, Act for the future of the transmission aspect of the nations electricity challenges. “Th e EPSR, Act allows for various options to be considered regarding the future of TCN. Considering the huge fi nancial requirement, the relevant government agencies should begin to discuss and take decisions on the options for the future of TCN. “Some options considered for TCN includes full privatization, concessions and management contract.
To reduce the fi nancial burden on any investor key sector participants have suggested, it would be best to split up the national grid into various entities. Th is method will more or less take the layout of full privatization of the transmission assets. “The second model is a public private partnership which has gained publicity over the years as it would remove control of the assets from government hands to private sector. Government would still have a seat at the table but they would be junior partners. “Th e third and fi nal model that has been discussed is a concession model which was done for Kainji dam during privatization of the generation assets. Th is arrangement will give the private investor full ownership for an extended period such as twenty to thirty years,” he stated.
