By Jeph Ajobaju, Chief Copy Editor
Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) claimed on Tuesday to have hit a new peak of 5801.60 megawatts (mw) grid transmission, the third record in two days, despite continued unstable power supply in the country’s commercial hub.
Lagos, Africa’s fifth largest economy which sets its sights on N60.3 billion internally generated revenue (IGR) this year, remains hamstrung by unstable power supply in homes and factories, a mirror of what obtains nationwide.
Regardless, Power Minister Sale Mamman announced on his twitter handle on Tuesday: “Back-to-Back Peak Transmission, Yesterday, 1st of March at 9:30 pm, we hit a new HIGH. 5801.60 megawatts transmitted at a frequency of 50.09 hz.
“Next Level heights for the Power Sector. Kudos to all at the TCN & MoP striving towards stable energy for Nigerians.”
TCN first announced on Monday that it had broken its transmission record with 5,584.40 mw and claimed to have topped it up with 5,615.40 mw on Tuesday, then made the third announcement.
Nigeria to collaborate with Egypt on power supply
On the bright side, however, Nigeria plans to collaborate with Egypt on a complete overhaul of power grid and distribution systems, Mamman’s Media and Communication Adviser, Aaron Artimas, said in Abuja on Monday.
He quoted his boss in a statement as disclosing this in a meeting with the Egyptian Ambassador to Nigeria, Ihab Awad, stressing that Nigeria wants to learn from Egypt’s successful implementation of a power upgrade with Siemens AG.
“The president had reasoned that obtaining more information from Egypt will enable Nigeria to maximise our agreement with Siemens, towards the total overhaul of our power grid and distribution systems,” Mamman said.
He added that Nigeria would leverage on Egypt’s rollout programme and both countries would collaborate on renewable energy and improve other sectors of the electricity value chain.
In 2018, Siemens, Elsewedy Electric, and Orascom Construction launched a 14.4 GW project under 30 months, including the largest combined cycle megaprojects in Beni Suef, Egypt.
Nairametrics reported that Nigeria and Siemens AG have signed a contract for the pre-engineering phase of the Presidential Power Initiative.