The Federal Executive Council on Wednesday approved N1.4 billion for the purchase of additional equipment for the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), as part of efforts to improve power supply in the country.
The approval came less than a week after the country expired on its fifth grid collapse in three months.
Energy Minister Abubakar Aliyu made the revelation while addressing House of Representatives correspondents at the end of the meeting chaired by President Muhammadu Buhari.
“I submitted two memorandums from the ministry of energy to the Nigerian Transmission Company,” he said.
He said the first was a variation of the sum of a contract for a 132/33 KV substation in Kafanchan, Kaduna state, with a KV line base extension at Jos substation in Plateau state. This is in the amount of N132.7 million, he said.
The second approval it got was for the supply of driving equipment and operating vehicles for the Transmission Company of Nigeria at a cost of N1.3 billion.
“The second memorandum was for the supply of handling equipment, hauling and operational vehicles for the TCN in N1, 338, 159, 080. 88. They are heavy lifting equipment that the TCN requires to do its job in the warehouse. and in the field, while the equipment was being changed and the transformers were being moved, and the council kindly approved it”, he said.
The FEC also ordered the Nigeria Bulk Electricity Trading Plc (NBET) to start negotiations with Nigerian Agip Oil Company (NAOC) to establish the new Okpai 11 power station on the grid.
The government signed an agreement with Nigeria
National Petroleum Corporation Gas and Power Investment Company Limited (NGPIC, a subsidiary of NNPC) at the Okoloma gas processing plant to restore full capacity of the 650MW Alom VI combined cycle power plant.
The government said the recurring collapse occurred as a result of vandalism, a poor management system and problems with the gas supply.