Abuja, Feb. 5, 2024: The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) says the national grid has been fully restored after a partial disturbance at about 11:21 a. m. on Sunday.
Mrs Ndidi Mbah, TCN’S General Manager Public Affairs in a statement in Abuja on Sunday said that the company initiated immediate restoration of the affected part of the grid.’
”The Transmission Company of Nigeria, hereby states that the grid experienced a partial disturbance at about 11:21hrs with Ibom power islanded feeding Eket, Ekim, Itu and Uyo transmission substations, during the period of partial disturbance, ” she said.
Mbah said that prior to the incident, total generation on the grid was 3,901.25 Mega Watts (MW) at 8 a. m, a little over three hours before time of partial collapse.
According to her, It is important to note that low power generation has persisted since January to date, exacerbating daily due to the lingering gas constraint.
According to the National Control Centre (NCC), the Internet of Things (IoT) revealed that just before the partial disturbance, which occurred at Sapele, Steam and Egbin Substations lost 29.32MW and 343.84MW at 11:20:14 hrs and 11:20:17hrs respectively, totalling 373.16MW.
”This, combined with the current low power generation due to gas constraints, caused the imbalance leading to the partial system disturbance.
”Gas constraints continue to impact grid flexibility and stability. Ensuring sufficient gas supply to power generating stations is crucial for grid stability, ” she said.
Mbah said that sufficient generation allows for better grid management in the event of sudden generation losses like this.
She said that TCN would investigate the cause of tripping of Sapele Steam and Egbin power generating units.
TCN also said that its tower number 388 along the Jos-Bauchi, 132 Kilo Volt (kV) Single Circuit transmission line has been vandalised, resulting in its collapse.
Mbah in a statement in Abuja on Sunday, said that the incident was suspected to have occurred on Feb. 1 at about 10:20 p.m.
According to her, this has led to power outage in Yobe and Borno states.
”Following a line trip in Jos, and bearing in mind past experiences associated with line tripping in that axis.
” The General Manager, Transmission of Bauchi Region, Mr Tijjani Ahmadu invited the police anti-bomb squad and the Department of State Services (DSS) to accompany the TCN line crew and investigate the transmission line to find the cause of the tripping.
”Upon inspection, the team uncovered remnants of detonated explosives by vandals by the tower legs, which had exploded and caused the tower to collapse.
According to her, the incident mirrors a recent and similar act on Dec. 21, 2023, which brought down towers T372 and T373 along the Gombe-Damaturu 330kV Single Circuit transmission line.
She said that during the incident, a security operative was killed and power supply to Yobe and Borno states were affected.
Mbah said that the line and towers from the December incident were fully reconstructed and energised on Feb. 2.
She said that TCN had engaged one of its contractors on an emergency basis to quickly mobilise to the site of the incident to commence the reconstruction and restringing of the affected line and tower.
”TCN is determined to keep working at rehabilitating and further expanding the nation’s bulk power transmission network to ensure consistent bulk power transmission.
”it is pertinent to note that the continuous vandalism and theft of power
equipment is a constant setback to the ongoing implementation of the transmission system expansion plan.
” This is because funds earmarked for grid expansion are usually diverted as a matter of emergency to repair vandalised power infrastructure, and sometimes to avert grid collapse, ” she said.
