WorldStage Newsonline-- Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) has projected four times growth of its wheeling capacity in the next four years from the current 5,000 mega watts to 20,000MW.
The Chief Executive Officer of TCN, Mr. Mack Kast on Monday said "Right now we have say a capacity of 5,000mw. What is going on on my mind is that in about five years time, we will be able to evacuate four times or not more than that," he said.
Enumerating the challenges in the power sector to the newly engaged 522 engineers from the National Power Training Institute of Nigeria ( NAPTIN) in Abuja, he recalled that the electricity distribution companies were handed over to private owners n November 1 last year with a high hope for sufficient power supply.
He told the new workers that the challenge was for the transmission sub-sector to stay ahead of the generation capacity in order to meet the customers' demand for steady power supply.
According to him, the TCN needed complementary staff to accomplish the task ahead.
He said: "We cannot do this alone. We cannot do with the existing complementary staff we have to move forward. In moving forward, we have to build the transmission sector to stay ahead of the generation capacity that has been delivered. Contd...
"Right now, the generation is privatized as at November 1. With that it is expected to build and generate more capacity. If they build more capacity, we have to be in a position to evacuate that capacity to the users downstream, to the distribution companies downstream. We are the critical sector linking the two.
"So our biggest challenge is to be able to stay ahead of the two as I said in terms of generation from where they may be to the distribution companies, the customers, wherever they may be lurking.
"The people in this areas do really care. What they want is steady power supply of power at a competitive price. So that is where we come in to make sure that we can meet that demand. And to do that it takes a lot of tremendous work.”
Kast admonished the staff that what lied ahead of them is not just their jobs, but the opportunity to boost Nigeria's economy.
According to him, with an expanded growth, there will be many more employment opportunities for those who follow the staff footsteps.
He added that with an expanded economic growth, the government will have expanded tax base and consequently higher tax collections.
NAPTIN Director General, Engr. Reuben Okeke noted that the TCN could have engaged graduates from elsewhere but the graduates engaged from the institute were different.
He told the new staff that the challenge in the power sector was wheeling capacity and total collapse in the system.
Okeke added that: "Right now, we cannot say that the system is okay because the way system collapses are happening is more than we can tolerate."
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