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ECOWAS targets 2023 for N233 billion transition project completion

By Kingsley Jeremiah, Abuja
10 November 2021   |   3:04 am
Nigeria and other West African countries, under the West African Power Pool (WAPP) will witness an increase in electricity transmission as the region plans to complete the North Core Transmission line by 2023.

ECOWAS

Nigeria and other West African countries, under the West African Power Pool (WAPP) will witness an increase in electricity transmission as the region plans to complete the North Core Transmission line by 2023.

The North Core project is a 330 kV transmission line that started from Birnin Kebbi (Nigeria) to Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso) through Zabori (Niger) and Niamey (Niger) with T-off to Malanville (Benin).

The estimated cost of the project is about $568 million (N233 billion) and it is expected to span 853 km of lines and five associated substations.

The Chairman, Executive Board of the West African Power Pool (WAPP), Dr. Sule Abdulaziz says the project remains on track to link Nigeria to three other countries.

Abdulaziz, who is the current Acting Managing Director of the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), stated this at the 52nd WAPP Executive Board meeting that was held as part of the 16th Session of the WAPP General Assembly in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.

According to him, the project is in the implementation phase with the procurement process underway.

Abdulaziz noted that the project is part of efforts aimed at integrating the power systems of West African countries by delivering priority projects that would ensure that all the 14 countries in the mainland of ECOWAS are eventually interconnected.

Other projects are undertaken within the West African sub-region he said, include the construction of the 330kV Volta (Ghana) to Lome ‘C’ (Togo) – Sakété (Benin) interconnection line that has been completed and will soon be energized and the WAPP Cote d’Ivoire – Sierra Leone – Guinea (CLSG) which will also be commissioned very soon.

Abdulaziz noted that effective operationalisation of the ECOWAS regional market participants is pursuing electricity alongside harmonisation of market rules and agreement on regulatory issues.

With the move, he noted that flexibility in the power system and an increase in trading opportunities for market participants would be ensured.

He tasked the members with sustained determination towards attaining the set goals of WAPP, saying that even though a lot has been achieved under the current leadership of the Pool, more needs to be done, until the goal of the founding fathers is achieved.

The Secretary-General of WAPP, Siengui Appolinaire KI, at the hybrid meeting urged members on resilience, saying, “We must at all cost continue our journey towards the ultimate goal of our institution, which is the implementation of a competitive regional electricity market. We absolutely must redouble our efforts to this end, the goal being more than ever within reach.”

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