Fashola tasks transmission substations on maintenance culture

The Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Babatunde Raji Fashola, has tasked transmission substations in Nigeria on regular maintenance of their equipment.

The Minister said this at the inauguration of Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN)’s 60MVA Mobile Transformers at Ajah 330/132/33kv transmission substation in Lagos.

Fashola said lack of maintenance of equipment had resulted in the shutting down of many TCN substations in the country, with no parts available to replace faulty or damaged equipment.

“We need to know the regular part that frequently breaks down so that we can make provision for it. Go into your records, and let us know the parts that damage frequently or once in six months, what damage that needs to be upgraded.

“All these will help us to plan ahead because they are all mechanical thing. We can’t be reacting all the time, we must be proactive,” he said.

The Minister also urged substations to take an inventory of all the parts that damage regularly, and send it to the Ministry to procure spare parts.

“If you cannot plan maintenance, you cannot provide service. Distribution Companies (DISCOs) want power, and it is not good to have our substations shutting down all the time,” he said.

Fashola said the commissioning of additional 60MVA mobile transformer in Ajah substation would increase transformer capacity to 280mva, which is an improvement in the transmission of power supply.

The General Manager, TCN Lagos Region, Geoffrey Nwokoye, said the additional mobile transformer would improve transmission of power to residents of Alaguntan, Badore, Ibeju, and Lakwe environs, assuring that problems associated with transmission in the areas were over.

The Chief Executive Officer, Eko Electricity Distribution Company (EKEDC), Oladele Amoda, said the new transformer would enable the DISCO to serve its numerous consumers in the area better, as it will aid improvement in the evacuation of energy from Generation Companies (GENCOs).