Businesses, households in Ikeja, Magodo, others to depend on generator for eight weeks

Ikeja Electric Company is set to cut power to businesses and residential areas in Lagos for two months and some days as the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) plans electric line upgrade.

The upgrade will be in selected locations; Oregun, Police Training College, Oba Akran, Oke Ira, Ogba, Magodo, Anifowoshe and Omole Phase One, Alimosho, as well as Agege, and will lead to their disconnection for eight weeks.

Power will go off from 8 a.m to 6 p.m during these period of upgrade.

Ikeja Electric’s Chief Technical Officer, Olajide Kumapayi, said on Monday, that the blackout was not caused by the firm, but as a result of the upgrade by TCN.

According to him, the upgrade will start from October 11, with TCN replacing obsolete and degraded 132K lines installed over 50 years ago. “The TCN is currently embarking on the upgrade of the 132KV lines from Ikeja West to Ota and Alimosho in stages. This is the second stage.

“The TCN is replacing all the aluminum conductors with gap conductors which is more sophisticated to withstand heat and has more capacity to carry current.

READ ALSO: Ikeja Electric to commence mass metering of customers

“The implication of this is that from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. everyday, the substations controlling these areas will be switched off which will affect the feeders connected to them.”

Head of Corporate Communications, Ikeja Electric, Felix Ofulue, said, “We believe it will be for the benefit of our customers at the end of the day and will also allow Ikeja Electric to invest more in our system to improve power supply to customers under our network.”

More cost for businesses, households

Poor electricity supply has been a problem for businesses and households in Nigeria, as many rely on self-generated electricity especially from generator.

The new development announced by Ikeja Electric will further increase the dependence on costly alternative power supply by all categories of Ikeja Electric customers.

“This will affect all categories of customers within the area especially our Maximum Demand (MD) customers such as Ikeja City Mall, Police College, Lagos State University Teaching Hospital and the Ikeja High Court”, Ofulue noted.

Earlier this year, it had been reported that over $200 billion was lost by the manufacturing sector to poor power supply, while $21 billion was spent by Nigerians in the last six years.

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