Mkpoikana Udoma
Port Harcourt — The Transmission Company of Nigeria, TCN, has announced a major boost in power supply in Delta State following the successful energizing of a new 60/75 MVA power transformer at the Delta 132/33 kV Transmission Substation, even as it races to restore a collapsed transmission tower in Kaduna.
The upgrade, completed recently, increased the substation’s capacity by 48MW, bringing the total capacity to 144MW. TCN said the development would significantly improve electricity supply to residents and industries in Delta and neighboring areas.
At the same time, the company confirmed that its engineers are working “tirelessly” to re-erect Tower 7 in Rigasa community, Kaduna State, which collapsed on Thursday due to vandalism and a severe windstorm.
In a statement signed by Ndidi Mbah, TCN’s General Manager, Public Affairs, the company disclosed that vandals carted away critical members of the tower structure, weakening it before the heavy downpour triggered its collapse.
“The tower collapse caused a disruption in the transmission of bulk power to some Kaduna Electricity Distribution Company, KAEDCO, load centers, particularly those supplying power to parts of Kaduna South,” Mbah said.
Mbah explained that while communities such as Kinkinau, Yan Tukwane, Kabala West, Unguwan Muazu and Kaduna North remain unaffected, residents in parts of Kaduna South are experiencing supply interruptions.
To mitigate the impact, TCN advised KAEDCO to link its 33kV Mogadishu feeder with the 33kV Abakwa feeder to ensure Mogadishu customers have access to electricity.
“Our engineers are already at the site of the incident, dismantling the collapsed tower members to enable them clear the site and commence the re-erection of a new tower,” Mbah stated.
Mbah assured Kaduna residents that TCN’s engineering crew is committed to the swift completion of the re-erection process, which has already seen damaged tower members replaced. Line tensioning, according to her, will follow shortly to restore bulk power transmission along the 132kV line.
“We apologize for the inconvenience the incident has caused the affected customers in Southern Kaduna, and we sincerely appreciate their patience and understanding as we continue to work round the clock to build a new tower,” the TCN spokesperson added.
TCN stressed that while the incident disrupted power to some communities, efforts are being made to ensure minimal outage duration as work progresses on the collapsed infrastructure.
