National grid collapses, system restored 21 days after TCN celebrated 400 days’ stability

Barely 21 days after the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) celebrated 400 days of grid stability, Nigerians experienced blackout following a total system collapse on Thursday.

The collapse was said to have occurred at 12:40am on Thursday, leading to loss of supply in major parts of the country.

Confirming the incident in a statement issued by its spokesperson, Mrs Ndidi Mbah, TCN said the collapse, which occurred after a fire incident on Kanji/Jebba 330kV line 2 is being investigated, with the view to forestalling future occurrence.

The company said grid restoration process has commenced across the country, adding that this has reached advanced stages with power supply now available in the West, North Central, South, East and a large portion of the northern parts of the country.

“The power supply restoration is sequel to the total grid collapse, which occurred at about 12.35am, this morning, causing outage nationwide after over 421 days of consistent grid stability,” the statement read in part.

While dispelling claims that the grid collapsed twice on Thursday, the TCN said, “In the course of the grid restoration, the process initially suffered a setback; this does not amount to another collapse.

“In the course of any grid restoration process, challenges may be encountered. This happened today while the grid restoration was in progress, but it was promptly addressed.”

The last total system collapse recorded was on July 20, 2022. Prior to this, the system had been stable in spite of the challenges posed by zero spinning reserve and lack of System Control and lack of Adequate Data Acquisition (SCADA) essential to a strong and stable grid, among others

In a notice to its customers on Thursday, electricity distribution companies said the collapse disrupted supply to its customers.

Enugu Electricity Distribution Company PLC (EEDC) said due to the development, all its interface with TCN stations are out of supply, and “we are unable to provide service to our customers in Abia, Anambra, Ebonyi, Enugu and Imo States.

“We are on standby awaiting detailed information of the collapse and restoration of supply from the National Control Centre (NCC), Osogbo,” it said.

Also, the Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC) assured that efforts were being made to restore power as soon as the grid is stabilised.

“Be rest assured that we are working with the relevant stakeholders to restore power as soon as the grid is stabilised. We appeal for your patience,” it added.

Meanwhile, data obtained from the system operator on Thursday showed that as of 3pm, the grid has been restored to 1,894.10MWs with contributions from nine electricity generation companies.

Out of 16 GenCos only Afam VI, Azura-Edo IPP, Egbin, Geregu (gas), Geregu NIPP, Ibom Power, Jebba hydro, Omotosho (gas) Omotosho NIPP (gas)  Sapele (steam), Shiroro (hydro), Dadinkowa (hydro), Delta were contributing to the grid as of the time of filing the report.

A check at the previous day data also showed that as of 9pm on Wednesday, the peak generation, according to the system operator, was 4,355.20 MW at a frequency of 49.84 Hz

The TCN had recently celebrated 400 days of zero system collapse, attributing this to a remarkable advancement in the nation’s efforts at strengthening its power infrastructure and ensuring a reliable and dependable electricity supply to distribution load centres for onward distribution to electricity customers nationwide.

It said the sustained stability and reliability was a combination of strategic measures and investments in the power system.

“Some of the key elements that have contributed to this remarkable accomplishment include configuration and enforcement of free governor control, effective under-frequency relay scheme among others,” it said.

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