Government Launches Plant for Transformer Maintenance and Repairs

The Federal Government has inaugurated a new plant for the maintenance and repair of transformers in the country. The plant is managed by Indian expatriates.

According to Minister of Power, Barth Nnaji, the GTA Engineering Nigeria Ltd plant based in Lagos has already been operational for the past six months saving the country N 1.4 billion in expenses.

Nnaji speaking at the launching said, “In the past, when the big transformers get faulty, we had to ship them to India or South Africa or wherever. But now, this repair facility is here and it becomes possible for us not to do such kind of shipment, which was costing us money and time, and it becomes possible for the repair to be done here. And on top of that, local employment is here.

“We want to quickly improve power supply in Nigeria and also indigenise the production of the power equipment that supports the power sector. So, this is a very important facility in Nigeria.”

Speaking on the savings the company has caused the government to make, Nnaji said “Well, actually, for the repairs that they have done, we can see that they have already saved us about N1.4bn, just from the repairs alone. And that is huge for us and we can employ that amount in doing other things in the power sector.”

The Group President in charge of the GTA Engineering, Mr. Jitender Sachdeva said, “In about six months of operation, N1.4bn worth of cost have been saved for the nation. If these transformers were purchased new, it would have cost N1.8bn. But just with N300m, all the transformers were repaired and put back in service, and they will live another 15, 20 or 25 years.”