The Chief Executive Officer of Transcorp Group, Owen Omogiafo, has announced moves by the group’s management to add 2,000 megawatts to the nation’s grid before the end of this year.
Omogiafo, who made this disclosure during a media briefing noted the previous challenges with gas and transmission but highlighted the impressive improvement recorded in Transcorp’s power business in the first half of 2023.
She said: “In the first half of 2023, we focused on improving our mechanical available capacity. Although there were still some challenges with gas and transmission, we saw a great improvement in our power business.
“Going by the strategy we are working with, by year-end we will have about 2,000 megawatts of available capacity and with gas issues getting the focus, especially with the new Minister of state for gas who will focus on it noting that about 79 per cent of Nigeria’s power is thermal, meaning gas fired.
“When these issues are resolved, we will, of course, get more value and continue to grow”, the group’s CEO added.
On the recent Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC) acquisition by the group, she said that Transcorp was part of a consortium that acquired the 60 per cent AEDC stake to boost the nation’s power supply.
Omogiafo further clarified: “In 2013, when the initial privatization of the sector happened, Transcorp and others went in, the narrative was we are not generating enough power to meet our needs. Transcorp Group, being a patient investor, has done well in the generating space in the last ten years.
“As we moved on, we saw that the problem was shifting and not just about power generation but was about getting the power to the end-user. That is what led us and other investors to say let’s see how we can take what has been built by the generating companies down there.
“That is what has led the Transcorp-led consortium to the AEDC acquisition, and we are confident that we can fix it. People want reliable power and today with the rising cost of petrol and diesel, people are finding out that we can’t afford to be running our generators to sustain businesses.
“That is why we are leveraging upon the discipline and competence that we have as turnaround gurus, we will work with the other investors to turn around Abuja Disco so that it can serve the catchment areas that it covers and perhaps in doing such, industrialization, urbanization will grow”, she added.
