Four months after it started the strategy of purchasing vehicles made in Nigeria for its operations in nine of the 17 local government areas in Abia State it provides power to assist the growth of local businesses, Aba Power is about to adopt the policy of patronising only Nigerian-made distribution transformers.
The company, Nigeria’s 12th electricity distribution utility which began operations in September 2022, has already bought 20 transformers for testing, according to Patrick Umeh, its Managing Director, in a circular to the staff released this morning.
“Once we confirm in the next couple of weeks or months their technical integrity,” continued Umeh, a former Commissioner with the Nigeria Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), “we will order 50 more transformers in the first instance.”
It is reliably gathered that Aba Power paid Danelec Ltd based in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, N10,497,375 for each of 10 500KV/11 distribution transformers with 100% copper winding and N10,560,800 per unit of the 10 500/33KV transformers, bringing the total amount to N139,825,228, including a value-added tax of N4738089.38.
“We will commission these 20 distribution transformers immediately because there are a lot of old, faulty, and poorly maintained transformers in the system, many of them bought well over 30 years ago,” he stated.
Experts say that while the Nigerian government has over the decades focused on power generation and transmission in the country, little attention is paid to the distribution segment in the electricity value chain.
Distribution companies supply electricity directly to homes, offices and factories.
“The consequence is the very poor state of the distribution network,” noted Cliff Eneh, a former senior manager with the defunct Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN), who was also an engineer with Texas Power and Light in the United States.
Engineer Eneh explained the poor condition of the distribution network is responsible for why the public electricity supply cannot power many machines, equipment, and even air conditioning systems.
Umeh disclosed that his company’s policy to use only Nigerian-made transformers to help address the crisis in the distribution network came from the founder and chairman of the Geometric Power group, Professor Bart Nnaji, a former Minister of Power who had earlier headed the Ministry of Science and Technology.
“Professor Nnaji, an erstwhile Director of the United States National Science Foundation-endowed Centre for e-Design in the University of Pittsburgh, recognises a radical improvement in local content in critical sectors is a most effective way to transfer technology to our people, enhance indigenous capital formation and create an entrepreneurial culture in Nigeria,” he said.
He also confirmed reports that Aba Power is in talks with local manufacturers of feeder pillars to select the best among their products to boost electricity supply.