The MD/CEO of TCN, Engr. Dr. Sule Abdulaziz has revealed that the Federal Government will soon deliver two units of 330kV transmission substations along with transmission lines in Katsina and Kano States to boost power supply.

Engr. Dr. Sule Abdulaziz disclosed this while inspecting the 330/132/33kV Katsina Substation project and the Rimin Zakara Substation in Kano, based on the directive of the Minister of Power, Engr. Abubakar D. Aliyu recently.

Speaking at the Katsina Substation, Abdulaziz said the transformers and structures were already in place at the facility, and that on completion, the substation will improve the transmission of bulk power to Daura, Dutsinma, Kankara, and Malumfashi Substations in the State. 

In his words, "We are willing and determined to ensure the completion of this substation within one year and invite Mr. President for its commissioning," Abdulaziz said.

According to the TCN helmsman, bulk supply to the substation will be through a transmission line from Kano which was earlier affected by Right of Way (RoW) issues. TCN and the Government, were collaborating to solve the problem, and that necessary processes have been completed to the extent that the contractor would soon be back to site to finish work on the substation and as soon as this is done, TCN will commission this substation, the TCN MD said. He noted that the substation facility has two units of 150MVA power transformers and two units of 60MVA power transformers.

The representative of the contractor of the Katsina project, Engr. Mustapha Maihajjo lauded the current administration for fast-tracking funding for the Substation project.

He said, "Since the coming of this administration, we have been able to procure about 95% of all the equipment requirements for this project,” noting that shipment of the materials were earlier delayed by COVID-19. However, the equipment were on ground at the time of the TCN management's visit.

The Special Assistant on Power and Energy to the Katsina State Governor, Mansur Ahmed Musa commended TCN for the ongoing work on Katsina Mega Substation project. In his words, "We have waited for a long time for this project to be completed and delivered timely as the contractor and the Managing Director of TCN promised.”

Kankia Substation

At the 132/33kV Kankia Substation where the materials for the 330kV Kano to Katsina Transmission Line was stored, Engr. Dr. Abdulaziz remarked; "We are using part of the substation as storage facility for the materials the contractor is using for the construction of the 330kV transmission line from Kano to Katsina.”

Abdulaziz also said the line had been bedeviled with Right of Way issues in the Kano axis and which negatively affected the execution of the project since 2010.

According to him, “We have discussed with the Kano Government and they have assisted us with paying for the land while TCN has concluded processes for payment for the structures and economic plants. So, the contractor is now free to continue the construction of towers and eventually, the lines. We want to make sure that within the one year remaining for this administration, we will be able to complete and commission the transmission line project.”

The Kankia Substation has two units of 150MVA transformers and two units of 60MVA transformers.

Rimin Zakara

At the 330/132/33kV Rimin Zakara Substation in Kano State, the MD said; "We started this project some years back and it has reached a very high level of completion. As you can see, the transformers, the switch gears, everything here is now almost 80% complete and this is the second 330kV Substation in Kano.”

"Everybody knows that after Lagos in Nigeria, the next city is Kano, but the entire state has just one 330kV substation which is not enough. This new substation will bring to two the number of 330kV substations in Kano.” The substation, he said, is almost 80% completed and the transmission line that will bring power to the substation is being executed. He noted that his visit to the substation is to assess the current state of project execution to ensure the project is being executed properly and according to the timeline.

The government has also given land to relocate those whose land was directly affected by the substation project, saying, "by the time we complete this project, the line to Katsina will start from here and will feed the 330/132/33kV Katsina Substation."

Bichi Mobile Substation

Engr. Dr. Abdulaziz also visited the 30MVA 132/33kV mobile transmission Substation Bichi, which was executed in-house by TCN engineers. The substation has been completed and will improve the bulk power requirement of the state water works, Bichi town and environs.