The Transmission Company of Nigeria has confirmed that reconstruction work on the vandalized transmission Tower Number 104 on Odukpani – Ikot Ekpene 330kV double-circuit transmission line in Akwa Ibom has been completed.
In a statement in Abuja yesterday signed spokesperson of TCN, Mrs. Ndidi Mbah, the Company, which blamed the constant power outages in the country on vandalization of lines connected to the National Power Grid, explained that work is ongoing to fortify other towers minimally vandalized along the same line route, to enable the restringing and tensioning of the 330kV DC transmission line, before it is energized.
Executive director, Transmission Service Provider (TSP) at TCN, Mr. Victor Adewumi, provided an update after he visited the site of the incident at Oku Iboku community in Uyo, to assess the level of repair works at the instance of the minister of power, Abubakar D. Aliyu.
Adewumi said the tower has been reconstructed and work has reached an advanced stage after three weeks, even with difficulties posed by the terrain.
“The tower has been fully reconstructed, restringing has to be done with the utmost care after other towers that were also tampered with have been fortified, to avoid the collapse of more towers. We are however doing everything possible to reconnect the line to the national grid,” he said.
He noted that the collapsed tower was not the only one vandalized and that restringing the transmission line involves bringing down the 330kV DC line on some suspension towers, that were minimally vandalized, up to the nearest tension towers on both sides of the collapsed tower and fortifying the suspension towers before restringing the lines to ensure quality work is done,” he noted.
The statement said work has reached 70% completion and that TCN is working hard to ensure that the 330kV DC transmission line is completed and reconnected to the national grid in one week, to ensure the evacuation of over 400MW stranded power at the Odukpani Power Plant near Calabar as well as the restoration of power supply to Cross River state.
The TCN spokesperson appealed to members of the public to help TCN in the fight against the vandalism of power infrastructure, saying that such acts are detrimental to Nigerians and the expansion of power infrastructure in Nigeria.
According to her, the weight of the Tower, which is on top of the hill, also requires extra care to avoid creating more problems. Mrs. Mbah urged the host communities to always take ownership of physical infrastructure sited within their areas by protecting them from vandals.
Be the first to know when we publish an update
