The rehabilitation of the strategic Amuwo 132/33kV Transmission Substation in Lagos has hit a snag, with completion pushed back as the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) waits for specialised equipment currently being manufactured in China.
Engr. Mrs. Funmi Ikoko, Acting General Manager of the TCN Lagos Region, disclosed the delay during a fact-finding tour by a team from the Lagos State Electricity Regulatory Commission (LASERC), led by CEO Mrs. Temitope George and Executive Member of Engineering and Standards, Engr. Olopade Adekunle.
According to Ikoko, the rehabilitation project is currently around 80% complete. However, contractors are stalled while awaiting critical imported materials, including contactors and relays.
“On average, that job is about 80%. So, very soon, we are expecting the contractors to come back to fix all those contactors and all those relays that are not properly fixed,” Ikoko explained. She noted that these items are not sourced locally and are being custom-made in China, estimating that the materials will arrive in less than two months.
The project initially faced delays securing the total power outage required to execute the upgrade safely. TCN eventually resolved the bottleneck by deploying mobile transformers, extending lines from Ojo toward the Festac axis, and coordinating alternative supply arrangements with Eko Electric and Ikeja Electric under their Service Level Agreements (SLAs).
During the inspection, the LASERC team shifted focus to the broader challenge of power evacuation, warning that transmission upgrades must be matched by equivalent improvements on the distribution side.
Engr. Adekunle noted that downstream bottlenecks, such as limited feeder capacity, protection coordination issues, and constraints on 11kV and 33kV networks, continue to restrict the amount of electricity DisCos can absorb. Instances of up to 200MW being rejected due to local network limitations underscore the urgent need for coordinated, value-chain-wide investments.
Mrs. George emphasised that LASERC’s oversight visits are designed to identify these exact infrastructure gaps while the commission simultaneously works to expand private-sector participation and licensing for off-grid and embedded power projects across Lagos.
The Amuwo rehabilitation project, which initially kicked off on March 18, 2026, was originally slated for completion by July 30, 2026. While the project successfully integrated two new 60MVA power transformers to replace older 30MVA units, ultimately boosting the substation’s capacity by an additional 60MVA, it missed its original July target.
With mitigation measures in place to prevent total blackouts across affected areas like Old Ojo Road, Ijesha Express, Jakande, Amukoko, and Hongxing, TCN expects full project momentum to resume once the shipments from China arrive.
