Power supply: Fashola to commission new giant transformers in Kaduna

The Minister of Works, Power and Housing, Mr Babatunde Raji Fashola is set to commission two installed Mega Volt-Amps (MVA) and Kilovolt Amps (KVA) giant transformers as part of the government efforts in addressing power outage in the country in Kaduna next month (June).

This was disclosed by the Managing Director, Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), Usman Muhammad Gur after the inspection of the power projects in Kaduna on Sunday.

He said the transformer installation project was parts of efforts to quit redundancy in the power transmission, assuring, that, the textile industry in Kaduna, which became moribund due to the inadequate power supply will soon bounce back.

‘In fact, a Chinese company that produces electrode will soon come to Nigeria, because we have assured them of constant power. Not only that, all the companies that ran to Ghana and other African countries will soon prefer to do business in Nigeria.”

“Our objective is to move towards a stable and reliable power supply. Definitely, this is the march we are on, though, it is not something that can be achieved in one day, but we are marching on; there is no week that we don’t commission a new transformer in the last few months that we’ve started.

“We are here to the inspect the work we are doing here in Kaduna. We have gone to Mando Power Sub-station where we have 330kva and we have looked at the 150 MVA which is under installation.

“We intend to commission the transformers on the 11th of June. The Minister of Works, Power and Housing will personally come to commission the transformers.

“We have also inspected the ongoing installation of 330kv lines from Kudende to Mando, which will help us evacuate the Kudende power station. The work is also going on fine; the Contractor has done 21 of the 55 foundations.

“We have also inspected the construction of the lines from Mando to Kakuri power station. The work is in progress, but it is very slow because people have built on the way. Therefore, we are calling on those that have built under those lines to leave those houses, because they are endangering their lives. If for any reason there is an accident and there is a snap, so many people will lose their lives.

“We are going to write to Kaduna State Government to help us remove those houses under the high tension.