TCN energises 330/132kv Damaturu substation

The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) has used its engineers to complete a new 330/132 kilovolt (kv) transmission substation in Damaturu, Yobe State, 12 years after a local contractor handling it failed to deliver.

The General Manager, Public Affairs, Mrs. Ndidi Mbah, in a statement yesterday, said the contract was awarded in 2006 to be completed in 18 months, but that the project suffered delays and variations until the present TCN management took over the project.

“In view of TCN’s pursuit of grid expansion, it refused to again extend the contract which had expired long ago. Instead, it handed over the completion of the project to TCN’s task team about two months ago for completion. The team completed the 330kV side of the substation two weeks back,” Mrs. Mbah said.

The Managing Director of TCN, Mr. Usman Gur Mohammed, in a chat last weekend, told Daily Trust that the Damaturu substation was among contracts that had expired and that TCN used its engineers to finish the projects.

He said, “Those contracts have expired. A contract for supply and installation of 330KV substation is supposed to last for 18 months, but that of Damaturu substation was awarded in 2006, which is about 12 years.

“We at TCN don’t cancel non-exiting contracts. We wrote to the contractors that the contract had expired and we are not willing to extend it. So, Catlark, the contractor for Damaturu substation, went to court and we followed it,” he stated.