The Nation Newspaper

Tag: national grid

  • Another powergrid collapse drops generation to 32mw

    Another powergrid collapse drops generation to 32mw

    The national grid suffered another disruption yesterday.

    It  plunged from peak 2,711.84MW at 1pm to 61.60MW at 2pm.

    The Independent System Operator (ISO) of the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) acknowledged the dip.

    The record indicated that the generation dipped to 58MW at 3pm. It rose to 360.30MW at 4pm, and dropped to 32MW at 5pm.

    The website record on the distribution profile of the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry (NESI) was not accessible last night.

    The industry has recorded over seven incidents of grid collapse this year with this one being the first occurrence in November.

    A statement by  TCN Public Affairs General Manager, Ndidi Mbah, said   several lines and generators tripped to cause the grid collapse.

    She  said  restoration  was ongoing.

    The  statement reads: “The Transmission Company of Nigeria states that the national grid experienced a partial disturbance at about 1;52 pm today, 5th November 2024.

    “This followed a series of lines and generators trippings that caused instability of the grid and, consequently, the partial disturbance of the system. The data from the National Control Centre (NCC) revealed that a part of the grid was not affected by the bulk power disruption.

    “TCN engineers are already working to quickly restore bulk power supply to the states affected by the partial disturbance.

    “Presently, bulk power supply has been restored to Abuja, at 2.49pm, and we are gradually restoring to other parts of the country.

    “We sincerely apologize for every inconvenience this may cause our electricity customers.”

    TCN restores bulk power to North

    The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) said it had restored bulk electricity supply to some  states in the North.

    Mbah, in a statement said: “The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) has successfully restored bulk power supply through its 330kV Ugwuaji-Apir transmission line 1 as of 4:56 pm today, following the completion of repairs on the vandalized section of the line.

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    “All necessary materials for the repairs are on hand, and work will begin as soon as the site is secured for the safety of our personnel to the affected sections of the vandalized 330kV transmission line two.

    “We appreciate your patience and understanding as our engineers work diligently to restore the 330kV transmission line 2.

    “TCN recognizes the importance of electricity in our daily lives and is committed to ensuring that this line is repaired swiftly, thereby increasing the bulk power to the affected area by the incident.”

  • ‘I’ve connected over 40 communities to national grid’

    ‘I’ve connected over 40 communities to national grid’

    Ekiti State Governor Biodun Oyebanji said at the weekend that he had connected over 40 towns to the national grid since assumption of office two years ago, to upscale local economy and add modern touch to the grassroots.

    He spoke in Ado-Ekiti, Ekiti State capital, during the inauguration of De-Head/Faglo Road and electrification project that connected suburban areas such as Irewumi, Orungbe, Olorunsogo, Surulere, Olorunda and Ijadu with Basiri, completed by his administration.

    Read Also: A timeline of Nigeria’s national grid collapses in 2024

    Speaking at the event attended by former Governor Ayodele Fayose, Oyebanji said he decided to build the road with solar lighting to enhance nightlife in the area and bring an upswing to the economic development of the populace, adding that putting electricity along new road remained his standard practice.

    “This road was started by former Governor Ayodele Fayose, but I completed it. This is why it is good for a leader to perform while in office. By my assessment, our past governors have done well, they deserve our respect. “

  • A timeline of Nigeria’s national grid collapses in 2024

    A timeline of Nigeria’s national grid collapses in 2024

    In a year marked by recurring power disruptions, Nigeria‘s national grid has experienced multiple collapses, causing widespread outages across the country. 

    These events have raised concerns about the reliability of the nation’s energy infrastructure.

    Below is a timeline of the key incidents in 2024 as highlighted on the X handle of the Nigeria National Grid responsible for providing real-time national grid updates as well as information about electric power distribution.

    February 4, 2024 – First collapse of the year

    The national grid suffered its first major collapse on Sunday, February 4. 

    The collapse led to prolonged power outages in many regions across the country, with distribution companies struggling to restore electricity. 

    According to the X handle of the grid provider, technical faults were cited as the primary reason, with recovery efforts spanning several hours.

    March 28, 2024 – Second collapse

    Barely two months later, on Thursday, March 28, another collapse occurred, with similar causes being reported. 

    While power was restored in some parts within 24 hours, other areas experienced extended outages. 

    This marked the second significant disruption of the year and prompted calls for urgent reforms in grid management.

    April 15, 2024 – Mid-month breakdown

    A third incident on Monday, April 15, brought another wave of power cuts, affecting key cities and industrial zones. 

    Reports from the national grid provider attributed the cause to frequency imbalances within the system. 

    This collapse further highlighted systemic challenges in maintaining grid stability.

    July 16, 2024 – Mid-year crisis

    On Saturday, July 16, the national grid collapsed again, pushing the year’s tally to four. This mid-year crisis caused heightened public frustration as critical sectors, including healthcare and manufacturing, were disrupted. 

    The national grid provider acknowledged the severity of the collapse and assured Nigerians that contingency measures were being reinforced.

    August 5, 2024 – Continued instability

    Monday, August 5 marked yet another collapse, with widespread blackouts being reported across the country. 

    Power was gradually restored in the following days, but the repeated failures began to raise serious questions about nation’s energy infrastructure investment, maintenance, and capacity.

    October 14, 2024 – Major October collapse

    In October, the country faced back-to-back disturbances. On Monday, October 14, the national grid experienced another major collapse. 

    The disruption affected a significant portion of the country, leading to an outcry from both consumers and businesses, which were severely impacted by the outage.

    October 15, 2024 – Partial collapse

    A day later, on Tuesday, October 15, a partial collapse occurred, further compounding the instability. 

    While not as widespread as previous collapses, it added to the growing concerns about the grid’s fragility and raised alarms about the grid’s ability to handle peak demand.

    October 19, 2024 – Disturbance

    On Saturday, October 19, the grid faced another disturbance, though this time it stopped short of a complete collapse. 

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    The disruption still caused partial outages in some areas, highlighting persistent vulnerabilities in the power distribution network. 

    The fault was, however, rectified soon afterward, and electricity supply was restored.

    The Nation reports the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) yesterday, announced its plan to conduct an investigative public hearing on the recurring grid disturbances and the attendant nationwide outages following the third grid collapse in one week, with Saturday’s fault attributed to the explosion of the bus section of a current transformer at 330kV Jebba Transmission Substation.

    The commission in a statement in Abuja, noted the planned investigative public hearing was to identify the immediate and remote causes of the recurring grid collapse and find a permanent solution.

    The impact and way forward

    2024’s national grid collapses have reignited debates on the urgent need for investment in nation’s energy infrastructure. 

    With each collapse, businesses, industries, and households bear the brunt of the instability. Despite ongoing efforts to reinforce grid management, the frequency of these collapses suggests that more long-term solutions are required.

    The federal government, in collaboration with stakeholders in the energy sector, has promised reforms, including investments in renewable energy and decentralised power grids, to reduce reliance on the fragile national system. 

    However, the timeline of collapses this year has underscored the critical need for action to prevent future disruptions.

  • NERC plans investigative hearing on recurring grid disturbances

    NERC plans investigative hearing on recurring grid disturbances

    • Grid restored after third collapse in one week

    • TCN blames incident on transformer explosion in Jebba

    The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) yesterday announced its plan to conduct an investigative public hearing on the recurring grid disturbances and the attendant nationwide outages.

    The country recorded its third grid collapse in one week yesterday following the explosion of the bus section of a current transformer at 330kV Jebba Transmission Substation.

    The fault was, however, rectified soon afterward,  and electricity supply was  restored.

    The NERC said in a statement in Abuja that the planned investigative public hearing was to identify the immediate and remote causes of the recurring grid collapse and find a permanent solution.

    It said the date and venue of the public hearing would be announced in national dailies.

    Stakeholders are encouraged to participate.

    It said the repeated grid disturbances have reversed  “ many of the gains recently achieved in reducing infrastructure deficit and improving grid stability.’

    It said yesterday’s grid  collapse was  “triggered by an explosion of a current transformer at the Jebba transmission station at 815. a.m. and associated cascade of power plants shutdown arising from the loss of load.”

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    The commission said that in line with the provisions of the Electricity Act 2023, the unbundling of the System Operator function (ISO) out of Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) is in progress  and one of its expected gains is that an ISO  will  engender more discipline in grid management and optimise investment in infrastructure.

    The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) confirmed later yesterday that the national grid had been restored after  the  temporary disturbance recorded in the morning.

    The grid   had gone down from 3,041MW to 187MW by 12:00 noon.

    Yesterday’s was the eighth grid collapse recorded in the country so far this year, the first occurring in February 4.

    Subsequent ones came on March 28, April 15, July 6, August 5, October 14, and October 15.

  • JUST IN: Grid restored after temporary disturbance – TCN

    JUST IN: Grid restored after temporary disturbance – TCN

    The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), says the national grid has been restored after experiencing temporary disturbance at about 8:15 a. m. on Saturday.

    Mrs Ndidi Mbah, TCN’S General Manager,  Public Affairs said this in a statement in Abuja on Saturday.

    Mbah said that TCN  engineers at Jebba successfully carried out switchings by  isolating the faulty current transformer.

    She said that the engineers had equally reconfigured the busbar arrangement, restoring power supply to the station, and other parts of the grid.

    Read Also: TCN blames grid collapse on transformer explosion in Jebba

    Mbah said that according to the report from the  National Control Center (NCC), the bus section of a current transformer exploded at 330kV Jebba Transmission Sub-station

    ” As expected, the protection system was activated, and this promptly opened the busbars to curtail the explosion, thereby, preventing outbreak of fire and further damage to adjacent equipment.

    ”The action of the protection system led to a temporary disturbance on the grid, ” she said.(NAN)

  • UPDATED: Six DisCos get 0MW as grid collapses to 496MW

    UPDATED: Six DisCos get 0MW as grid collapses to 496MW

    Six electricity Distribution Companies (DisCos) got 0MW from the Independent System Operator (ISO) of the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) on Saturday by 1:38pm.

    While the SO allocated 80MW to Abuja DisCo, 70MW to Benin DisCo and 70MW to Eko DisCo, it also gave 100MW to Ibadan DisCo and 130MW to Ikeja DisCo as at 1:38pm.

    The grid collapsed from 3,041MW at 8am to 47MW at 9am, 334.20MW at 10:00am, 496MW at 11:00am, and 187MW, at 12:00pm on the day under review.

    There was a similar experience on October 16, 2024.

    The collapse may not be unconnected with the loss of 1,200MW because of the destruction of two towers by vandals.

    The TCN on Friday made this known in a statement by its Public Affairs General Manager, Mrs. Ndidi Mbah. 

    Read Also: BREAKING: Blackout as national grid collapses again

    She said: “The vandalized Shiroro – Kaduna 330kV lines 1&2 are vital lines through which bulk power is transmitted to parts of the North West region, with each line capable of carrying 600MW.”

    The statement said two towers along its 330kV Shiroro–Kaduna transmission lines one and two have been vandalized, damaging parts of both transmission lines.

    According to reports from the Shiroro Regional office of TCN, the 330kV transmission line one tripped first, followed shortly by the second, as efforts were still ongoing to reclose the first line, prompting the urgent mobilisation of local vigilantes to patrol the lines. 

    This led to the discovery of two damaged towers, towers T133 and tower T 136 with their cables badly damaged at several points.

    The statement said arrangements were in top gear to deploy the newly procured “emergency restoration system” to the site, pending the reconstruction of the damaged towers. 

    The company said it has has also conducted an aerial survey in collaboration with security operatives, given the area’s vulnerability to banditry, which poses a significant threat to both TCN installations and personnel.

    In the interim, according to the statement, “our engineers have implemented a temporary measure to supply bulk power to the Kaduna and Kano regions via the 330kV Kaduna – Jos transmission line.

    “The vandalism of the towers and transmission lines presents a significant challenge to bulk power transmission in that axis. We are however committed to re-erecting the towers and restringing the transmission lines to restore bulk power transmission through both 330kV power transmission lines.”

  • AEDC attributes power outage in franchise area to system failure 

    AEDC attributes power outage in franchise area to system failure 

    The Abuja Electricity Distribution Company has attributed the power outage experienced in its franchise area to system failure from the National Grid.

    The Company said this on its X handle on Saturday.

    It said that the grid experienced system failure at about 8.16am on Saturday affecting power supply to its franchise areas.

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    ”Be rest assured that we are working with relevant stakeholders to restore power as soon the grid stabilises,”it said.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the nation was also thrown into darkness on Monday following the collapse of the national grid.

    Saturday’s grid collapse was the seventh in 2024.

    (NAN)

  • BREAKING: Blackout as national grid collapses again

    BREAKING: Blackout as national grid collapses again

    The national electricity grid has collapsed again, plunging millions of people into darkness.

    This makes it the third time the grid is collapsing within a week.

    Data obtained from the Nigerian System Operator’s portal (niggrid.org), revealed that the grid recorded an unprecedented zero Megawatts (MW) as of 8:16 am today.

    Read Also: National grid loses 1,200MW as vandals damage two transmission towers

    Data gleaned showed that all 22 generation companies (GenCos) are down as of the time of this report.

    This collapse marks the eighth grid disturbance in 2024, adding to challenges that have long plagued Nigeria’s power sector.

    Details shortly…

  • National grid loses 1,200MW as vandals damage two transmission towers

    National grid loses 1,200MW as vandals damage two transmission towers

    The national grid has lost 1,200MW as vandals destroyed two transmission towers along its 330kV Shiroro–Kaduna transmission lines.

    The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) made this known yesterday in a statement issued in Abuja by its Public Affairs General Manager, Mrs. Ndidi Mbah.

    She said, “The vandalised Shiroro – Kaduna 330kV lines 1&2 are vital lines through which bulk power is transmitted to parts of the North West region, with each line capable of carrying 600MW.”

    The statement said two towers along its 330kV Shiroro–Kaduna transmission lines one and two have been vandalised, damaging parts of both transmission lines.

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    According to reports from the Shiroro Regional office of TCN, the 330kV transmission line one tripped first, followed shortly by the second, as efforts were still ongoing to reclose the first line, prompting the urgent mobilization of local vigilantes to patrol the lines. This led to the discovery of two damaged towers, towers T133 and tower T 136, with their cables badly damaged at several points.

    The statement said arrangements are in top gear to deploy the newly procured “emergency restoration system” to the site, pending the reconstruction of the damaged towers.

    The company said it has also conducted an aerial survey in collaboration with security operatives, given the area’s vulnerability to banditry, which poses a significant threat to both TCN installations and personnel.

    In the interim, according to the statement, “our engineers have implemented a temporary measure to supply bulk power to the Kaduna and Kano regions via the 330kV Kaduna – Jos transmission line.

    “The vandalism of the towers and transmission lines presents a significant challenge to bulk power transmission in that axis. We are however committed to re-erecting the towers and restringing the transmission lines to restore bulk power transmission through both 330kV power transmission lines.”

  • As Nigeria reels under epileptic national grid

    As Nigeria reels under epileptic national grid

    SIR: Not a few Nigerians are gratified by the improvement in the power supply across the country in the recent times.

    However, what is left to conjecture is whether the improvements have come to stay or a providence of nature.

    Whilst nature controlled events and occurrences are dictated by the interplay of seasons, technologically nuanced events are subject to scientific imperatives with experimental precision.

    The Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, recently said that more than 40 percent of Nigerians now enjoy 20 hours of power supply daily across the country. Basking on this euphoria, he further said the feat was achieved through revolutionary measures taken by the Ministry of Power, with the support of President Bola Tinubu, as part of his renewed hope agenda to galvanise economy.

    Discerning consumers of power may not  be too excited about the surge in power supply without a verifiable proof that those revolutionary measures he said his ministry took are anything novel and not the hackneyed spikes always recorded during rainy seasons when dams including the popular Kanji Dam are retaining water at their peaks.

    These nature-induced spikes would aggravate a sharp drop in power supply during the dry seasons when the water at the dams begins to recede.

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    One would have expected the minister to speak on the efforts made on renewable energy sources in areas of solar and wind powered generation.

    The power transition is not a rocket science; new data has shown that renewable sources accounted for 51.6 percent of the U.K’s electricity generation between April and June 2023.

    Unless and until Minister Adelabu could anchor his enthusiasm on specific technological innovations towards renewable energy transition, celebrating the 20 hours of hydropower power supply is a fleeting carousal that will keep the nation in a chokehold of epileptic power supply, incessant collapse of National Grid and other dysfunctional outcomes that have bedevilled electricity production and distribution in Nigeria since independence.

    The grid collapse at the height of rainfall as we have it now is a telling sign of a difficult supply in the next quarter except the government begin to ramp up investments that can mitigate technological obsolescence in various power platforms.

    • ESV Bukola Ajisola, bukymany@yahoo.com