Worried by acts of vandalism and sabotage which affected power supply to 19 northern states for about 10 days, Minister of Power, Chief Adebayo Adelabu on Thursday, October 31 and Friday, November 1 visited two critical load centres in the northern states of Kano and Kaduna.
During the visit, he had an interactive engagement with management and major stakeholders in the Kano Electricity Distribution Company (KEDCO) which included KEDCO’s core investor, Futures Energy. Part of the working visit saw the Minister visiting the Kano State Governor, Abba Kabir Yusuf, one of the biggest TCN transmission stations in that region, the Kumbotso Transmission Station and a tour of the Zawaciki 1 megawatt interconnected mini grid.
In KEDCO, Adelabu advocated a localize alternative source of power as back up to the national grid. “This is to be embedded within the distribution network so that if there are challenges on the national grid, the impact would be minimally felt”, he said. Continuing, he said efforts would be made to tackle the north’s vulnerability to electricity disruption. We need to revamp the transmission architecture which relies heavily on Shiroro and Jos channels. This radial system leaves the northern region vulnerable to electricity disruptions whenever issues arise with these lines”, he said.
The Minister also sought the intervention of State governments especially in both States on issues of right of ways.
“ We want the intervention of the state on right of way issues that have bogged down power projects in the axis as the completion of these projects will bring further development to communities in the north”.
Speaking with the Kano State governor who was represented by the Chief of Staff, Alhaji Shehu Wada Sagagi, he described Kano as a critical load centre and expressed regret about the blackout occasioned by vandalism and sabotage.
“This is a working visit to Kano which is one of our critical load centres. The blackout is regrettable because the Ministry of Power has a mandate to engender growth and must do all within its power to ensure this irrespective of the challenges or the region involved. Our visit is thus to understand the challenges and further support KEDCO in the supply of reliable and regular supply of electricity”. He urged the state government to also leverage on the 2023 electricity act which empowers states to play more active role in the power sector.
Apologizing to the people and government of Kaduna State during his interaction with Governor Uba Sani, the Minister said the blackout was not a deliberate act neither was it intentional but due to activities of vandals. He promised to ensure that the situation does not recur again. Adelabu also reiterated the need to collaborate to ensure vandalism is reduced to the barest minimum and urged the state government to help in the protection of power infrastructure in the axis.
The Minister enjoined the Governor to help facilitate the completion of projects in Kaduna region especially the gas pipeline for the ongoing 215 megawatts transmission project in the State.
“ Altogether, we are expecting additional 400 megawatts of power supply to Kaduna region when some of these projects are completed and this will further galvanize economic activities “, he said.
Adelabu urged the state government’s involvement in renewable energy which would serve as back up and reduce over reliance on the national grid, especially now that the federal government is planning to build 100 megawatts solar power plants in some States in the north in collaboration with private investors.
Responding, the Governor promised to ensure the protection of power infrastructure in Kaduna area adding that work is ongoing with some communities and the office of the National Security Adviser (NSA) on this. “In the next few days, attacks on TCN facilities would be curtailed”.
