TCN Enables Kainji Expansion to Provide an Extra 220 MW of Mainstream Power Availability

Stories by Emmanuel Addeh in Abuja 

The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) has handed over the construction site for two 330 kV bays at the Kainji Transmission Substation to Mainstream Energy Solutions Limited (MESL). The handover opens the way for the evacuation of an additional 220 MW from the Kainji Hydropower Plant.

TCN said the formal site handover occurred over the weekend and will allow MESL to begin civil, electrical, and mechanical works, as well as testing and commissioning activities for the project.

Once completed, the two bays will enable power evacuation from two new turbines—Units IG3 and IG4—each with a generation capacity of 110 MW, for a total of 220 MW to be installed at the Kainji power station, the statement signed by TCN’s General Manager, Public Affairs, Ndidi Mbah, noted.

“The physical handover of the 2 × 330 kV bays construction site is intended to facilitate the start of construction activities, including civil, electrical, and mechanical works, as well as testing, commissioning, and all other approved project tasks,” Mbah said. “After completion, the 220 MW capacity bays will enable the evacuation of the two additional IG3 and IG4 turbines with capacity to generate 110 MW each, totalling 220 MW, which is to be installed in Kainji power station,” she added.

During the handover ceremony, TCN’s General Manager, Materials Control and Stores, and Chairman of the Project Technical Committee, Abdulkadir Adamu, described the development as a major milestone that would strengthen the company’s ability to transmit the additional electricity generated by the new turbines into the national grid.

MESL’s Chief Technical Officer, Romao Grisi, thanked TCN for granting access to the site and assured that the project would be delivered within the agreed timeline.