THE Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) has confirmed the restoration of the national grid after a record sixth collapse in 2024.
TCN clarified that the collapse was caused by a fire at the Afam Power Generating Station, which partially disturbed the national grid.
“At 02:41 hrs today, 15th April 2024, a fire erupted at the Afam V 330kV bus bar coupler, leading to the tripping of units at Afam III and Afam VI. This resulted in a sudden generation loss of 25MW and 305MW, respectively, destabilizing the grid and causing a partial collapse,” said the company’s general manager of Public Affairs, Ndidi Mbah.
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Mba explained that the Ibom Power Plant was isolated from the grid and was supplying parts of the Port Harcourt region.
She added that the isolation of the Ibom Power Plant further minimized the effect of the system disturbance.
The TCN also confirmed that the affected section of the grid had been fully restored and stabilised.
Meanwhile, Nigeria’s incessant grid collapse appears to have no end in sight. Most Nigerian homes and offices were thrown into darkness, with the latest collapse on Monday, April 15, at around 3 a.m.
The national grid has witnessed its sixth collapse in 2024.
Nigeria generates an average of 4,000MW of electricity for an estimated 200 million citizens nationwide.
But this is hardly sustainable, as the grid continues to record incessant collapse due to gas supply constraints, transmission infrastructure vandalism, and liquidity crisis, among others.
Data from the Independent System Operator, an arm of the Transmission Company of Nigeria, showed that only one electricity generation company, Ibom Power, was active at the time of the grid collapse on Monday.
Power generation on the grid crashed further to 44.5MW around 4 a.m. before crawling to 132.29MW an hour later.
Harrison Edeh is a journalist with the International Centre for Investigative Reporting, always determined to drive advocacy for good governance through holding public officials and businesses accountable.