National grid collapse: Restoration is in progress — TCN assures

The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) has assured Nigerians that the restoration process is underway after the national grid suffered a partial collapse at approximately 1:52 p.m. on Tuesday.

Tribune Online reports that the National Grid, via its official X account, announced the development on Tuesday, stating, “BREAKING: National Grid suffers another setback. Restoration soon!”

The incident, which TCN described as a “partial system disturbance,” was reportedly triggered by a series of line and generator trippings that led to grid instability.

In a statement released by Ndidi Mbah, shortly after the collapse, TCN’s General Manager of Public Affairs, the company clarified that the disruption did not affect the entire grid, stressing that data from the National Control Centre (NCC) indicated that certain areas maintained uninterrupted power.

The statement further noted that TCN engineers have commenced efforts to restore bulk electricity supply to the affected states, prioritising a swift response to minimise the impact on customers.

While apologising for the inconvenience caused, TCN assured customers that the restoration process is ongoing and that updates will be provided as work progresses.

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.”

This incident follows three previous collapses in a single week at the end of October, bringing the total number of grid disturbances in 2024 to nine.

The first blackout of the year occurred on 4 February, when the grid’s capacity dropped sharply from 2,407 megawatts to only 31 megawatts by midday, resulting in a complete shutdown by 1 p.m.