The federal government says plans are underway to add 204 Mega Watts (MW) of electricity to boost power supply in Ekiti state.

The Minister of Power, Abubakar Aliyu, said this in a statement by the spokesperson of the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), Ndidi Mbah, on Wednesday, in Abuja.

Mr Abubakar said the federal government had begun the construction of a 132 kilovolts transmission line and a 2 by 60 Mega Volt Ampere (MVA) transmission substation and a switching station in the state to raise the capacity by 204 megawatts.

The minister, who was speaking at the groundbreaking ceremony in Ado Ekiti, said that the project consisted of a 50 km stretch of 132kV transmission line from Ikere (Ado Ekiti) with a turn in – turn out at Ijesa Isu that terminates at Ilupeju Ekiti.

Mr Aliyu, represented by the Managing Director of TCN, Sule Abdulaziz, said the project

also had a 2X60MVA, 132/33kV transmission substation with four line bays at Ijesa Isu Ekiti with a switching station at Ikere (Ado Ekiti).

“For TCN, this is a very strategic project and we believe it will have a massive impact on bulk power transmission in Ekiti and environs,” he said.

“For the residents of Ekiti State and its environs, the additional 204MW capacity to the grid means that more bulk supply will be readily available for offtake by Benin DisCo for its customers in Ekiti and environs,” he added.

”The substations’ project will also take care of suppressed load in this axis and relieve the Ado-Ekiti substation which has been overburdened to ensure a more reliable electricity supply to the people of Ekiti,” he said.

Mr Aliyu  called on Ekiti residents to support government efforts against vandalism of power facilities.

“We must demonstrate our collective responsibility towards preserving the nation’s power equipment in and around our communities.

In his remarks, Governor Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti said the state received only 26MW of electricity from the national grid.

Mr Fayemi, represented by his deputy, Bisi Egbeyemi, said the  level of electricity supply was worrisome and grossly inadequate going by the energy needs of the population of the state which was estimated at 150 megawatts in 2014.

NAN