By Uche Amunike
The Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Transcorp Power Plc, Peter Ikenga, has affirmed that the inability of Nigerian power distribution companies to share the electricity generated has been the major cause for selling it to neighboring countries.
Speaking, during a virtual presentation of Transcorp Power’s results for the year 2023, he disclosed that the company made 18% of its earnings in the previous year from electricity export.
When asked why the company was selling energy to other countries at a time that Nigeria was battling darkness, he explained to newsmen that the distribution companies have not been able to take the power generated by Transcorp Power, thereby leading to what he called stranded capacity.
He explained that the energy firm had no choice than to start selling the stranded capacity to other West African countries. According to him, Transcorp was generating more power than the demand it gets locally as a result of some of the limitations on the grid.
Hear him: ‘Our goal here is to maximise our power generated from the plant, and due to some of the challenges we have within the sector, what you find is a scenario whereby we actually can generate more power than the demand we get locally due to some of the limitations you have on the grid.’
‘You have a scenario whereby you have distribution companies from time to time unable to take load; meaning that they are unable to take the power that we generate. You cannot store electricity. So, you have to consume it as it is being generated.’
He further asserted: ‘So, what you find is that we had a scenario when we started having some stranded capacity within the plant. And if that stranded capacity cannot be consumed locally, we have to look for a market outside the country. So, what you find us exporting is basically power that otherwise would not have been put on the grid, so to speak.’
He further posited that the country was dealing with darkness as a result of a structural issue in the power sector, stressing that Transcorp Power will not accept the poor demand from the local market to deny it the opportunity to maximize its capacity.
His words: ‘Why Nigeria is grappling with darkness is a structural issue within the sector. But for us as prudent business owners, we also do not want a scenario where, because of poor demand, we cannot maximise available capacity. So, what cross-border sales do for us is an opportunity for us to maximise the capacity that we have within the plant’, he reiterated.
Recently, the minister of power, Adebayo Adelabu made a promise to Nigerians that In the next six months, the country would increase power generation from 4000MW to 6000MW.
While the country expressed their concerns over the possibility of the 11 power generating companies to possess the capacity of distributing 6000MW of electricity, considering the poor power infrastructure on ground, Adelabu give them the assurance that the planned generated power would be successfully transmitted and distributed.
