Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) plans to inject $8 billion to upgrade its operations to achieve 20,000 megawatts electricity supply, its Executive Director, Mr Mohammed Shaike said in a statement on Monday.
Mr Shaike’s statement is coming days after the company received members of the Senate Committee on Privatisation, led by its Chairman, Senator Olugbenga Obadara who visited the company’s regional office in Oshogbo in continuation of their oversight visit to privatised enterprises in Osun State.
He told the Senators that in its determination to develop the technical manpower of the company, TCN’s Management Contractors-Manitoba International had trained some of the technical staff abroad to acquire technical and strategic skills.
The Executive Director said that TCN would work jointly with the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC) to achieve the target.
Also at the briefing was the TCN’s General Manager, Mr J. Lawal, who said that the company’s power lines accommodated a maximum voltage of 330kv with its transmission coverage extended to Benin and Niger Republics.
He said that despite the low power generation from the generation companies, plans were on to upgrade the transmission lines to accommodate more voltage to distribute to the distribution companies.
According tom him, some of the challenges the company is facing are poor office accommodation, lack of safety facilities and lack of training for the technical staff.
The Chairman of the Senate Committee on Privatisation, Senator Olugbenga Obadara, decried the low level of investment in power generation, which he said had resulted in unstable and unreliable power supply across Nigeria.
The Senate also visited the Nigeria Machine Tools (NMT) Limited, where its Managing Director, Mr Norbert Chukumah, gave a brief history of the company which produces spare parts based on specifications.
He said since privatisation in 2007, the company had embarked on massive rehabilitation and upgrade of its facilities to bring it to modern standards.
The Chairman of the Senate Committee on Privatisation, Senator Olugbenga Obadara urged the company to approach the Capital Market to raise more funds for its operations.