The Turkish company Ak-Ay Elektrik will supply electricity to 3 million people in the West African country of Nigeria through five infrastructure projects to supply transformer substations.
Ulaş Aslan, deputy coordinator of Ak-Ay Elektrik's projects, told Anadolu Agency (AA) in an exclusive interview that to date the company has completed more than 40 transformer substations in the country.
"We have five projects now, one of which is the Lafiya Project that has two 150-megavolt-ampere and two 60-megavolt-ampere transformers. When the project is completed, we will provide the necessary infrastructure for electricity delivery to around 3 million Nigerians living in the Nasarawa province," he said.
Aslan explained that Nigeria delivers far less electricity to its people than it produces. The country's electricity capacity varies between 4,000 and 6,000 megawatts.
"The power plants in the country are operating at 5 percent capacity mainly due to lack of maintenance of power plants built for electricity generation, the high costs of natural gas storage, problems in exports, deficiencies in operating systems and the poor infrastructure of distribution companies," he said. The country suffers from frequent interruptions, and it is estimated that only 60 percent of the population are connected to the electricity grid. Generators supplement electricity for the majority of the population, who receive electricity for just for four hours per day via the grid system. According to a report published by The Spectator Index, last year, Nigeria ranked as the second most inadequate out of 137 countries in the provision of electricity supplies after Yemen. The county experiences energy shortages despite the fact that it is endowed with large oil and natural gas reserves. The Turkish company Ak-Ay Elektrik, which operates in various countries, began its first project in Nigeria in 2001.
