TCN To Sign Agreement On 265Megawatts Spinning Reserves

The management of Transmission Company of Nigeria, TCN, and the Niger Delta Power Holding Company, NDPHC, are currently working on a contractual agreement by which NIPP plants would provide about 265MW of Spinning Reserves.

The general manager, Communication and Public Relations, NDPHC, Yakubu Lawal, said the reason for the agreement was to facilitate grid responsiveness during swings and disturbances on the transmission network.

In statement on the relevance of the NIPPs, after 10 years of conception, Lawal stated that the provision of spinning reserve and other ancillary services were being practiced all over the world and Nigeria now largely relies on NIPP plants to provide the service.

According to Lawal, contrary to allegation of non-relevance, the NIPP was definitely not a failed project.

The NPDHC has over 2,000MW of generation capacity readily available for deployment as soon as vandalised gas processing projects are completed by the associated nominated gas suppliers thus presenting the best opportunity for the rapid improvement of power supply.

In his words, “In the area of power generation, eight of the 10 power plants in the NIPP portfolio, along with associated gas transmission metering/receiving infrastructure projects to support commercial operation, have been commissioned and connected to the national grid contributing over 2000MW of energy daily.

“While it is a fact that power generation is often disrupted by acts of vandalism on gas pipelines and transmission lines, the NDPHC does not offer such incidences as excuses.

“The NDPHC has continued to operate these power plants in the interest of the Nigerian economy, despite undesirable security challenges and an accumulated debt of over N94billion owed it by the electricity market, that is definitely more than a tangible contribution to the nation’s supply of electricity.”