TheCable

Ikeja Electric Plc has announced an eight-week power outage in some areas under its franchise network in Lagos to enable the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) re-conduct its 132KV lines.

Speaking during a news conference on Monday, Olajide Kumapayi, chief technical officer of the electricity distribution company (DisCo), said the areas that will be affected by the project, which is expected to begin on October 11, include Oregun, Police Training College, Oba Akran, Oke Ira, Ogba, Magodo, Anifowoshe and Omole Phase One.

He added that the project is aimed at increasing the capacity of the transmission lines to wheel more power from the generation companies. He further noted that some of 132Kv lines installed over 50 years ago had become obsolete and degraded due to time and usage.

“The TCN is currently embarking on the upgrade of the 132KV lines from Ikeja West to Ota and Alimosho in stages. This is the second stage,” Kumapayi said.

“The TCN is replacing all the aluminum conductors with gap conductors which is more sophisticated to withstand heat and has more capacity to carry current. The implication of this is that from 8 am to 6 pm everyday, the substations controlling these areas will be switched off which will affect the feeders connected to them.

“This will affect all categories of customers within the area especially our Maximum Demand (MD) customers such as Ikeja City Mall, Police College, Lagos State University Teaching Hospital and the Ikeja High Court.”

The chief technical officer added that the TCN will also move to Alimosho and Agege axis in the next stage. Kumapayi noted that the upgrade was a power sector initiative to boost transmission and distribution of electricity to Nigerians.