The management of the West African Power Pool (WAPP), stated that its North Core Project which is estimated to cost $586 million by completion would be completed by 2023.
This was disclosed by the Chairman, Executive Board of the West African Power Pool (WAPP) and Acting Managing Director, TCN, Mr Sule Abdulaziz, at the 52nd WAPP Executive Board meeting in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, part of the 16th session of the WAPP General Assembly.
The North-Core transmission line project would link the electricity grids of Nigeria with Niger, Burkina Faso, and Benin.
What the chairman said:
Abdulaziz said, “the WAPP North Core Project that seeks to interconnect Nigeria, Niger, Burkina Faso, and Benin is in the implementation phase with the procurement process underway.
“The project is expected to be completed by 2023 and is part of efforts of the WAPP to integrate the power systems of West African countries by delivering priority projects, that would ensure that all 14 countries in the mainland of ECOWAS are eventually interconnected.”
He added that other major power projects in the region include the construction of the 330kV Volta (Ghana) to Lome ‘C’ (Togo) – Sakété (Benin) interconnection line which has been completed and would soon be energized, adding that the WAPP Cote d’Ivoire – Sierra Leone – Guinea (CLSG) project would also be commissioned very soon.
He noted that the completion of the project will ensure flexibility in the power system and increase trading opportunities for market participants, citing also that more still needed to be done, until the goal of the founding fathers was achieved.
Secretary-General of WAPP, Mr Siengui KI, stated that member nations must at all costs continue the journey towards the ultimate goal of the institution, which is the implementation of a competitive regional electricity market.
“We absolutely must redouble our efforts to this end, the goal being, more than ever, within reach.
“The new Executive Council, will have to sit for the next two years and a new Vice-Chairman will be elected, as the former vice Chairman, Mr Hamidou Traore has been re-designated,” he added.
In case you missed it
Recall Nairametrics reported earlier this year that Nigeria’s former Minister of Power, Mr Sale Mamman, stated that the West African Power Pool (WAPP) sub-regional interconnection project, a 330 kV North Core Power Project, would costs stakeholders $568 million to complete.
He also stated that “The operation and maintenance of the entire infrastructure shall be handed over to the utility companies of the participating countries.
This has already been assented to by the ECOWAS Heads of States and Government in their approval in December 2018 of the ECOWAS Master Plan for Development of Regional Generation and Transmission Infrastructure, 2019-2033.
The North-Core Project involves the construction of approximately 875 Kilometers (KM) of 330 Kilo Volt (kV) and 24 KM 225 kV transmission lines from Nigeria to Burkina Faso, through Niger and Benin with associated substations.