The Transmission Company of Nigeria on Sunday announced the commencement of the rehabilitation and replacement of old circuit breakers in the nation’s transmission network.
It said the project was geared towards improving bulk power transmission to power distribution load centres across the country.
The General Manager, Public Affairs, TCN, Ndidi Mbah, said the rehabilitation and replacement work were officially inaugurated at the 37-year-old 330/132kV Ajaokuta Substation in Kogi State.
She said in a statement issued in Abuja that the move was to ensure that all circuit breakers in the country’s transmission network were certified healthy and performed optimally.
“The decision to start with the circuit breakers in Ajaokuta substation was due to the strategic role the substation plays in transmitting bulk electricity to distribution load centres of Abuja and Benin distribution companies, covering areas such as Abuja, Lokoja, Ayangba, Okene, Okpila, and Benin, among others,” she stated.
The transmission firm said its effort at rehabilitating the circuit breakers despite routine maintenance undertaken by in-house engineers was to ensure the elimination of sudden breakdown due to age.
“The exercise will be extended to all substations in the country whose circuit breakers are 20 years and above,” the power company said.
The firm stated that it assigned its engineers to work directly with the contractors in the rehabilitation exercise to ensure hands-on training and practical skills transfer.
It said proper retrofitting or replacement of the circuit breakers would ensure that they operate optimally for the next 15 to 20 years.
Circuit breakers protect power transformers from any abnormal conditions or fault that may occur within or from outside the network.
They also provide power supply flexibility in the substations’ switchyard when maintenance work is ongoing, without interrupting bulk power supply to distribution load centres in the grid.
Source: Punch
