Blackout: Collapsed network completely restored – TCN

The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) says it has fully restored the collapsed national power grid.

TCN Public Affairs Director General Ndidi Mbah revealed this in a statement on Sunday night.

“The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) hereby declares that the grid experienced a partial disturbance at about 11:21 hours today with Ibom power isolated, feeding Eket, Ekim, Itu and Uyo transmission substations , during the period of partial disturbance.

“TCN initiated immediate restoration of the affected part of the network and currently the network is fully restored,” Ms Mbah said.

He noted that before the incident, the total generation on the grid was 3,901.25 MW at 8 a.m., just over three hours before the time of the partial collapse.

“It is important to note that low power generation has persisted from January 2024 to date, exacerbating daily due to persistent gas shortages.

“According to the National Control Center (NCC), the Internet of Things (IoT) revealed that just before the partial disruption, which occurred at 11:21 a.m. on Sunday, the Sapele Steam and Egbin substations lost a total of 29, 32MW and 343.84MW. at 11:20:14 Hrs and 11:20:17 Hrs respectively, totaling 373.16MW,” he added.

This, he said, combined with the current low power generation due to gas limitations, caused the imbalance which led to partial disruption of the system.

He explained that gas limitations continue to affect the flexibility and stability of the network.

“Ensuring sufficient gas supply to power plants is crucial for grid stability, as sufficient generation allows for better grid management in the event of sudden generation losses like this.

“TCN will investigate the cause of the tripping of the Sapele Steam and Egbin power generating units,” he said.

Background

Nigeria’s power grid collapsed early Sunday, leaving several cities in the dark, including the country’s capital, Abuja.

Informing its customers about the collapse, the Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC) said the collapse occurred at around 11am.

The latest collapse came less than two months after the national grid system collapsed in December and Nigerians were plunged into darkness.

Last Friday, the Nigerian Government attributed the main cause of the poor electricity supply in the country to the low supply of gas to generating companies (GenCos).

Nigeria’s Minister of Energy, Adebayo Adelabu, who revealed this in a statement, said: “Power supply during the Christmas holidays improved, but unfortunately we have experienced setbacks in the new year. “After investigations, it is clear that the root cause of poor power supply is low gas supply to GenCos.”

The TCN had said in January that there was a gradual decline in generation available on the grid due to gas constraints.

The company said this affected the amount of power available on the transmission grid for subsequent transmission to distribution load centers across the country.