By Yunus Yusuf
Lagos – The Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Mr Babatunde Fashola, on Friday commended stakeholders in the power sector for adhering to safety compliance and enhancing the growth of the industry.
Fashola gave the commendation at the commissioning of an upgraded Chemical and Engineering Laboratory by the Nigerian Electricity Management Services Agency (NEMSA) in Lagos.
“This is now an ungraded and properly fitted laboratory to help the agency in enforcing compliance in the power sector.
“This will also make them do their jobs effectively now that they have tools. We hope there will be improvement in all the operators’ compliance conducts,” Fashola said.
In his remarks, Mr Peter Ewesor, the Managing Director of NEMSA, said the re-modelling of laboratory situated in Ijora would help to curb substandard equipment in the power sector.
Ewesor said the facility was a specialised analytical laboratory for inspection, sampling, test and analysis services for transformer insulating oils and lubricating oils.
Others, he said, included greases of various grades, turbine oil, hydraulic oil used in the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry (NESI) and other Allied industries as well as potable and effluent water resources.
He said NEMSA would ensure quality checks in line with its mandate of ensuring safety and compliance with standards.
“This laboratory has been operating as a reference quality control laboratory for the entire power industry since the era of the defunct NEPA and PHCN, and now in the post-privatisation era when NEMSA took it over in a dilapidated state in 2014.
“NEMSA, in realisation of its key role in furthering its mandate as enshrined in NEMSA Act-2015, embarked on the upgrading and remodelling of the laboratory to provide accurate tests and analyses,” he said.
He added that the laboratory was equipped with a wide range of world class test equipment, instruments and devices, including dissolved Gas Analyser (DGA) a diagnostic equipment.
He said the facility also had equipment for detecting, identifying and evaluating incipient faults within transformers and reactors; Dielectric Strength Tester – to determine oil viscosity. (NAN)
