- TCN has lost a total of ₦1.7 billion due to vandalism of its structures in the NorthEast
- The company has lost an average of ₦139 million on wheeling charges
The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) says it has lost N1.7 billion in nine months owing to the vandalism of electricity infrastructure in Maiduguri and environs. Speaking on Thursday at a town hall meeting in Maiduguri, Borno state capital, Abubakar Aliyu, minister of power, said the TCN made the revenue loss from January to September.
Aliyu, represented by Sule Abdulazeez, TCN chairman, said the loss recorded was on vandalised electricity lines at an average of 740 megawatts per day. The minister added that TCN lost an average of N139 million in one month on the wheeling charges and energy lost in the area.
He said a total of eight 330Kv towers had been brought down by insurgents in Damaturu and Maiduguri within the period, adding that the average cost of reconstructing each tower is about N110 million, translating to about N880 million.
“Five towers were successfully erected and stringing completed in September. 17, awaiting energisation before the insurgents brought down another two sets of the tower (1193 and 1194) at Auna village the next day, September 18, ” he said.
As a way forward, the minister recommended executing embedded generation such as the proposed NNPC 50MW gas plant, solar farm, and wind farm in Maiduguri.