Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) manages the energy transmission network within the u . S .. It is one of the 18 corporations that became unbundled from the defunct Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) in April 2004 and is a made of a merger of the transmission and machine operations parts of PHCN. It changed into incorporated in November 2005 and issued a transmission license on July 1, 2006. TCN is currently absolutely owned and operated by using the authorities and as part of the reform programme of the government, it's miles to be reorganised and restructured to enhance its reliability and increase its capability.


TCN’s licensed activities include: power transmission, machine operation and energy buying and selling. It is answerable for evacuating electric powered energy generated by way of the electricity producing groups (GenCos) and wheeling it to distribution companies (DisCos). It gives the important transmission infrastructure among the GenCos and the DisCos’ Feeder Sub-stations.


Nigeria’s transmission community consists of high voltage substations with a complete (theoretical) transmission wheeling potential of 7,500MW and over 20,000km of transmission traces. Currently, transmission wheeling potential (5,300MW) is better than common operational era potential of three,879MW however it is far underneath the full installed technology ability of 12,522MW. The whole infrastructure is essentially radial, without redundancies hence growing inherent reliability troubles. At a median of approx. 7.Four%, the transmission losses throughout the network are excessive in comparison to emerging international locations’ benchmarks of 2-6%. The range of machine collapses has fallen over the last years from a height of 42 in 2010 to a few ultimate 12 months. All these reflects the crucial infrastructure and operational challenges inside the transmission subsector of the industry.


TCN consists of three operational departments:


1. Transmission Service Provider (TSP)


The TSP oversees the development and maintenance of the transmission infrastructure. It is responsible for the national interconnected transmission system of substations and power lines and providing open access transmission services. Its role is to maintain the physical infrastructure that make up the transmission grid and expand it to new areas.



2. System Operations (SO)


The SO manages the flow of electricity throughout the power system from generation to distribution companies. It operates the Grid Code for the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry (NESI). The SO has the responsibility for ensuring that the transmission grid lines are reliable and maintaining the technical stability of the grid through its operations of planning, dispatch, and control of the electricity on the grid. Specifically, responsibilities of the SO are:


Controlling grid frequency and voltage;

Allocating power loads in times of insufficient generation;

Designing, installing, and maintaining Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) and Communication facilities for effective grid operations;

Economic dispatch of generating units

Procuring & managing ancillary services;

Enforcing the Grid Code and the operational procedures

Coordinating all planned outages for the maintenance of system equipment;

Performing post fault analysis of all major grid disturbances.

Under the Electric Power Sector Reform Act (EPSRA) 2005, it is envisioned that in the long term, SO will devolve into an independent body separate from TCN when the electricity market reaches the fully developed stage.


3. Market Operations (MO)


The MO administers the market rules of the NESI. It is responsible for the administration of the Electricity Market and promoting efficiency in the market. Specifically, the roles of MO include:


Implementing and administering the Nigerian Electricity Market Rules,

Drafting and implementing the Market Procedures;

Administration of the Commercial Metering System by ensuring that each trading point has adequate metering systems in place;

Administration of the Market Settlement System;

Administration of the Payment System and commercial arrangement of the energy market, including Ancillary Services;

Supervising Electricity Market Participants’ compliance with and enforcing the Market Rules and the Grid Code.

Periodic reporting on the implementation of the Market Rules;

Capacity building of market of Participants on the Market Rules and Procedures and Trading Arrangements;

At the long-term stage of the electricity market, ensuring and promoting competition among market participants will be a key function of the MO.


 


Investment Opportunities in the Transmission network


The transmission network system requires a significant amount of investment for expansion of wheeling capacity, improving reliability, stability and reducing transmission losses.


The Private Sector investment will be required in the following areas to achieve the goals of the electric power reform programme of the government.


Transmission Network expansion;

Dualization of critical lines to create redundancy;

Relief for congested segments of the grid;

Replacement of old & broken down lines & equipment

Modern asset management & operational processes

Efficient Project management practices

Vegetation management;

Human capacity development

Local manufacture of components.

Implementation of the Super Grid concept (approx. cost of $5bn)

A clear and concise contractual, regulatory, and financial framework is a critical requirement for attracting private sector capital to the NESI. The Commission guided by the EPSR Act 2005, provides a tariff methodology that encourages investment in transmission sub-sector of the industry.