The Nigerian Government is Considering Supplying Electricity to the Republic of Chad.
The plan comes against the backdrop of a request by the neighbouring country.
On Sunday, Nigeria’s Transmission Company of Nigeria said that a meeting was held last week to discuss the possibilities of connecting Chad to the national grid.
“Meeting between Ministry of Power, TCN, and the Chadian Minister of Energy, Mrs Ramatou Mahamat Houtouin, to discuss the possibilities of connecting the Republic of Chad to the Nigerian national grid [was held] on Wednesday, October 21, 2020,” the TCN said on its Twitter handle on Sunday.
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The details were also published alongside pictures of the meeting.
The TCN had on June 22 announced that the government of Chad Republic had formally requested the Nigerian government to connect them to the Nigerian electricity grid
This, they said, is in order to ease the burden of power supply in the country.
TCN disclosed that the Chadian Ambassador to Nigeria, Abakar Chachaimi, made the request when he led a delegation on a working visit to the Nigerian Minister of Power, Mr Sale Mamman, recently in Abuja.
| IN CONTEXT The development has been criticised by many Nigerians on social media. Many wondered why the nation chose to supply a neighbouring country while her citizens remain in darkness. Since the present government came to power, Nigeria’s available power generation has been hovering between 3,000 megawatts and 4,500MW. Also Read: Nigerian Firm to Raise $1.2bn in 3 Years to Bridge Metering Gap Earlier in the week, total power generation fell to 3,474.5MW from 3,776.5MW, according to data obtained from the Nigerian Electricity System Operator. The number of plants on the national grid that did not produce any megawatts of electricity rose to 11 as of 6am on Saturday. The idle plants were Geregu II, Sapele II, Alaoji, Olorunsogo II, Omotosho II, Ihovbor, Gbarain, Ibom Power, AES, ASCO and Trans-Amadi. This development notwithstanding, Nigeria exports electricity to three neighbouring countries, including Republics of Niger, Benin and Togo. Twenty-seven plants are currently connected to the national grid, which is being managed by the TCN. Despite repeated promises, millions of Nigerians remain unmetered, as businesses struggle to stay afloat in the midst of outrageous estimated bills. |
