The Managing Director of Ibom Power, Meyen Etukudo, has attributed the power outage experienced in the state over 12 days to the collapse of a conductor from Aba (Abia State) to Itu (Akwa Ibom State), which carries 80 megawatts of power.
Speaking with newsmen on Thursday at his office in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, Etukudo noted that the conductor built in 1978 was prone to collapse and snapping as a result of old age.
He said the power conductor, which had existed for over 46 years, should be changed with the same capacity or something lighter that can carry up to 160 megawatts by the Federal Government utility company, Transmission Company of Nigeria, noting that without the change of the old turbines, the issue will persist.
Etukudo also advocated for the upgrading of Ibom power station, the Akwa Ibom state-owned power company, to 250 or 300 megawatts to contain the emerging economic trend in the state.
According to him: “Yes, we don’t have power in the state as a whole because there is a line from Aba to Itu or from Itu to Aba about 89 km built around 1978; that line was meant to carry 80 megawatts of power in and outside the state, which has been snapping from time to time.
“The conductor should be changed with a new one or with something lighter that can even carry 160 megawatts. This gospel has been preached all over the state, even at the national level but nothing has been done; it is the job of TCN, not the state, to change it. That line keeps snapping and once it cuts off, you have to trace the line from Aba to Itu.
“The transmission line or turbine is supposed to carry power 24/7, non-stop. It has ran before for 180 days; it never stopped and we are using gas, which is heating all the elements. Even other machines in other companies have time; they’ll stop and rest but the turbines in the power station are not meant to stop until you change them and bring in another turbine so that they continue running; unfortunately, it’s not so here.”
Etukudoh hinted that though Ibom Power focuses on power generation, the distributors, Port Harcourt Electricity Distribution Company, PHEDC, is faced with the problem of ‘earth fault,’ saying that when it gets power from the grid, the fault will prevent the power to pass through but stops at the earth until the issue is troubleshooted, traced and rectified.
He further hinted that Ibom Power uses gas to generate power (thermal generation), noting that the annual schedule maintenance of their gas suppliers, AGU Gas and Savannah Energy, has hampered its generation of power for the past 10 days, revealing that the state imports power from Aba in the meantime.
Speaking on the non-optimal performance of the power sector in Nigeria compared to other neighbouring countries, Etukudo stated that until experts and professionals in the power sector are appointed to manage it, Nigeria will not make any headway.
He noted that while designing a power station, whether hydro, steam, thermal or any other form, there should be the deployment of people with the technical know-how who understand the nitty-gritty of power.
His words: “How many power stations in Nigeria have spinning reserves? That is why our systems are collapsing anyhow because of a lack of spinning reserves. Ibom Power should have a spinning reserve. One could be on standby, 90 megawatts, while the other is for maintenance, the other two or three are running.
“When we realise the importance of putting the right peg in the right hole, things will begin to get better in Nigeria.”
He added: “For instance, when you give a historian or any person from an unrelated background to manage the power sector, what do you expect?”
Etukudoh, who reeled out some of the corporate social responsibilities of the company, noted that they have installed transformers in strategic places of five clans in Ikot Abasi Local Government of the State, which is the host community.