The Eko Electricity Distribution Company(EKEDC) has explained why power supply has been stable in the Lekki and Victoria Island (VI) areas of Lagos state.
The electricity distribution company attributed the improved power supply in the areas to the extra 100 megawatts (MWs) of electricity it acquired from the Niger Delta Power Holding Company (NDPHC).
This was revealed in a statement by Dr. Tinuade Sanda, managing director of EKEDC, who was represented by Mr. Joseph Ezenwa, the company’s Chief Financial Officer (CFO), at the customers engagement forum in the Lekki business district on Thursday, October 13.
According to Ezenwa, in a bid to compensate their customers for their commitment to the payment of electricity bills, EKEDC entered into different embedded arrangements with power generation firms.
The statement reads, “We have pioneered Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) arrangement through the NDPHC to upscale what is actually available from the grid.
“This is one of the various measures that we have put in place to satisfy our customers and guarantee them increased power supply across our distribution network.
“So far, the electricity generation companies (GenCos) are having their challenges, due to gas supply-related issues required to power their plants.
“There are other forms of the power purchase agreement including the deal with Paras Energy for the supply of 40MW and other embedded generation agreements, all in the pipeline, to boost adequate power supply to our customers.
“However, we cannot proceed further on some of these embedded agreements without giving priority to cheaper energy sources that we get from the national grid. I mentioned this because power purchase agreements from embedded sources are quite expensive.
“The EKEDC is the first DisCo to sign 100 MW PPA concept in Nigeria. I am not sure any DisCo have been able to achieve this feat.
“We have shown Nigerians that this type of arrangement is achievable.”
While reacting to the call by customers for the replacement and rehabilitation of transformers, poles, and other associated equipment that have reduced supply to their areas despite improvement in electricity across the network, Ezenwa explained that procurement of distribution infrastructure requires so much capital.
He further said that the EKEDC does not have the capital that is required to purchase all the power equipment for all the customers at the same time.
Ezenwa said that, “Capital expenditure is done in bits based on the availability of resources and priority.
“The N14 billion concessionary loan that we obtained from the Central Bank of Nigeria(CBN) for infrastructure upgrade, is a small amount that has been judiciously used to cater to some critical projects.
“We have barely scratched the surface of the power infrastructure deficit even with the concessionary loan.”
Ezenwa, while speaking on the provision of prepaid meters, disclosed that meters are available for customers under the Meter Assets Provider(MAP) scheme, urging them to apply for prepaid meters.
He also noted that EKEDC will, as part of the commendation received from customers on its promptness to respond to the complaints, continue to expand the various communication channels for more customers.
Engr. Henry Uko, acting head of distribution operations in EKEDC, while giving an update on the successes that have been made in the last one year within the business district, said that the DisCo has gone a step further by making contingency plans against frequent national grid collapse, to guarantee minimum power supply to its customers.
Uko said that, “We guarantee our customers more power in reward for their feedback and commitment to settling bills.
“Customers within the Lekki axis have been attesting to the stable power supply in their area due to the extra 100MW PPA agreement that we made with the NDPHC.”
Engr. Femi Olaoye, EKEDC’s general technical officer, while speaking after the forum, said that the company is presently battling with supply challenges due to the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) power evacuation challenges.
Olaoye said that, “As part of measures put in place to resolve this, there is an agreement to upgrade some substations within the network with an additional 100MVA 132/33kV power transformers, some of which have been approved by the government.
“Last year we did the rehabilitation work on some substations and feeders to improve supply to our customers, during which a lot of feeders and new projects were conceived with the deployment of the N14 billion CBN’s annual capex loan to the DisCos.
“Some projects have been completed while others are ongoing with the deliberate intention of improved power supply within the network.
“We have recently completed the reconfiguration of the injection substation and feeders to stabilise power in Lekki Phase 1.
“The usual trippings of feeders during the rainy season has been permanently resolved after that.
“So many feeders and injection substations are being rehabilitated and we are creating additional feeders to evacuate loads.
“We have also done some reconfiguration to balance the load on the 4×60 MVA in the Lekki axis to allow an even distribution of load.
“We are already moving power through the Egbin/Ajah lines to Lekki/VI and Ikoyi, and that has helped us bridge the lapses in power supply that often occur whenever there are national grid collapses.
“On the Lekki substation, we have installed 1 x 300, 1 x60 MWA, all the feeders are 90percent overloaded and there is an agreement to upgrade the station to 2x 66 MVA 132/33 KV to radiate more loads.
“We have recently awarded the construction of the Elegushi feeder through the CBN loan in order to de-load some of the over-loaded feeders in that axis.
“Residents within the Lekki axis can attest to the fact that those trippings and instability on the grid have been addressed due to the reconfiguration that we have done.
“We moved those on the Argungi injections substation to our Chevron lines, a premium line, customers in this area are now enjoying a reasonable supply of power. All the overloaded distribution substations have been deloaded.
“We have also used the CBN loan to procure 150 distribution transformers, by replacing all the old transformers under our network based on the request made by our customers,” he noted.
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