Peter Ikenga, the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of Transcorp Power Plc, highlighted that the challenge lies with Nigerian power distribution companies’ inability to effectively distribute the electricity generated, leading to the need for exporting it to neighboring countries.

During a virtual presentation of Transcorp Power’s result for the year 2023, Ikenga stated that the company made 18 percent of its earnings in the previous year from electricity export.

From the news gathered, Ikenga explain why the company was selling energy to other countries when the country was battling darkness, noted that the distribution companies had been unable to take the power generated by Transcorp Power, leading to what he called stranded capacity.

He emphasized that the energy firm resorted to selling the stranded capacity to other West African countries.

He stated that Transcorp was generating more power than the demand it gets locally due to some of the limitations on the grid.

Ikenga asserted, “Our goal here is to maximise our power generated from the plant, and due to some of the challenges we have within the sector, what you find is a scenario whereby we actually can generate more power than the demand we get locally due to some of the limitations you have on the grid.

“You have a scenario whereby you have distribution companies from time to time unable to take load; meaning that they are unable to take the power that we generate. You cannot store electricity. So, you have to consume it as it is being generated.

“So, what you find is that we had a scenario when we started having some stranded capacity within the plant. And if that stranded capacity cannot be consumed locally, we have to look for a market outside the country. So, what you find us exporting is basically power that otherwise would not have been put on the grid, so to speak.”

Ikenga noted that Nigeria’s power sector faces structural issues, contributing to the prevailing darkness and emphasized that Transcorp would not allow low local demand to impede its capacity utilization.

“Why Nigeria is grappling with darkness is a structural issue within the sector. But for us as prudent business owners, we also do not want a scenario where, because of poor demand, we cannot maximise available capacity. So, what cross-border sales do for us is an opportunity for us to maximise the capacity that we have within the plant,” he submitted.

Wakadaily learnt that, Adebayo Adelabu, the Minister of Power, recently pledge to increase the power generation from 4,000MW to 6,000MW in the next six months.

Despite concerns about the ability of the 11 power-generating companies to distribute 6,000MW due to infrastructural deficiencies, Adelabu reassured Nigerians that the planned power increase would be effectively transmitted and distributed.