Kaduna businesses in jeopardy as 2 weeks blackout set to continue
Kaduna State has been thrown into darkness for about two weeks after the Shiroro-Mando transmission line which provides bulk electricity to the Northern states was vandalized.
The transmission line was reportedly vandalized shortly after the hike in the price of petrol to N1050.
As a result of the power outage, businesses across all sectors of the economy such as barbing salons, hairdressing, soft drink vendors, and others who depend on power supply to run their businesses have suffered as they cannot afford to run their businesses on petrol due to the price.
Amongst those who decried the situation was Muhammad Imran, who sells beverages along the Kaduna-Abuja road, he said “Travelers buy cold drinks regularly. But since there is no light to make ice water, they no longer have interest. I can only sell about 3,000 Naira instead of 15,000 Naira before”.
Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) in a statement has stated that the blackout affecting parts of Northern Nigeria will persist due to security challenges halting repairs on major transmission lines and efforts made to cushion the situation through alternative measures has been abortive, therefore the blackout will not be fully rectified anytime soon.
Engr Nafisatu Asabe Ali, Executive Director of the Independent System Operator at TCN, explained during a public hearing by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) noted that the TCN diverted electricity supply through the Ugwuaji-Apir 330-kilovolt (kV) double-circuit transmission line which made the situation worse due to a power trip on the alternative line.
She further stated that the line has the capacity to carry up to 750 megawatts (MW) of power but due to voltage stability issues in Kano, only 350 MW can be transmitted safely to Kaduna, Kano and parts of Niger Republic.
According to her, insecurity in the North is the major reason why the repair has been stalling.
She expressed that the materials needed for the repairs are available, but security advice received from the National Security Adviser (NSA) stated that the area where the three towers were destroyed is currently inaccessible due to ongoing security concerns led to them not taking any repair action.
“The larger Shiroro-Mando transmission line, which supplies more power, remains out of service due to insecurity in the area where it was damaged”, she stated.
In light of this, the chairman of NERC, Garba Usman, criticized TCN’s ineffeciency in maintaining equipment.
He cited reoccurring transformer explosions as a contributing factor to the continuous power outage experienced in the North.
