Nigeria inaugurates four transmission projects in Kano

Nigeria’s Federal Government inaugurated four electricity transmission projects in Kano State on 22 October. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), reporting from the ceremony, listed a new 2×40 MVA, 132/33 kV substation at Walalambe; 300 MVA and 100 MVA transformers at Kumbotso; a 100 MVA transformer at Dakata; and another 100 MVA transformer at Dan Agundi. Officials said the projects were expected to add 544 megawatts of wheeling capacity to Kano and the national grid.

The four components are different kinds of assets rather than one facility. Walalambe was described as a new supply point, while the other projects add transformers at existing substations. MVA measures apparent equipment capacity, while MW measures active power transfer; the units are not interchangeable. The MVA ratings listed for the equipment therefore should not be added and compared directly with the 544 MW figure. NAN reported 544 MW separately as an expected wheeling-capacity estimate.

Power Minister Joseph Tegbe said the new supply point would relieve pressure on existing facilities and give the distribution network more flexibility in serving consumers. NAN said the projects were expected to ease overloaded substations and create room for previously suppressed demand. Those claims do not mean generation or electricity actually delivered to end users rose by the same amount. The event announcement described transmission infrastructure brought into service and the capacity impact officials expected from it.

Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) Managing Director Sule Abdulaziz linked the investments to the Nigerian Electricity Grid Maintenance, Expansion and Rehabilitation Programme. NAN reported that TCN intended to continue expanding transmission infrastructure, rehabilitating existing facilities and modernising critical equipment across the country’s six geopolitical zones. The report did not state the project cost, individual commissioning tests or the separate MW contribution of each Kano facility.

The Kano projects also illustrate the distinct roles of transmission and distribution. TCN’s high- and medium-voltage assets move bulk electricity through the network; distribution companies then carry electricity through local systems to consumers. The minister’s statements about flexibility and relieving pressure do not by themselves establish that outages ended in particular neighbourhoods or that households received more hours of supply. Those outcomes require measured service data at the distribution level, which NAN’s ceremony report did not provide.

TCN’s managing director also asked host communities to help protect the facilities, respect transmission right-of-way corridors and report suspicious activity. That was an institutional appeal about infrastructure security and operation. The report did not identify a specific vandalism incident, damaged project asset or right-of-way violation related to these four projects.

The news value lies in additional or expanded transmission capacity at network points officials said were overloaded and unable to meet some demand. The stated aim was to strengthen bulk electricity supply to Kano’s industrial, commercial and residential areas. The effect on actual consumption, voltage quality or outage duration has not yet been reported. Any later assessment should distinguish the 544 MW capacity estimate from observed transmission and consumer-service outcomes.