The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) has refuted claims of a national grid collapse on Monday, clarifying that the incident involved only a line tripping at the Benin-Egbin 330kV isolator.
The spokesperson of the company, Ndidi Mbah, made this clarification in a statement on Tuesday in Abuja.
It should be recalled that some media outlets reported yesterday that the national grid collapsed, resulting in a nationwide blackout.
However, Mbah said the arcing on the Benin-Egbin 330kV did not result in the collapse of the grid system but did affect the power supply in some areas of the country.
He stated that the line tripping began around 2:47 p.m. yesterday, caused by a significant system surge that resulted in the arcing of the Benin-Egbin 330kV line isolator fingers at the Egbin Transmission Substation switchyard.
According to him, this issue has been resolved and power supply has been restored to the substation.
“The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), hereby notes that at about 6:10 pm yesterday, 5th August 2024, power supply was restored to areas that had been affected by the arcing on the Benin-Egbin 330kV isolator which caused lines tripping and consequent loss of supply to some areas. However, contrary to media reports, the incident did not cause a system collapse.
“The lines tripping started earlier at about 2:47 p.m. yesterday, with a heavy system surge that led to the arcing of Benin–Egbin 330kV line isolator fingers at the Egbin Transmission Substation switchyard.
“This resulted in a tripping at the Egbin Generating Station, which caused the loss of power supply to all the Egbin Transmission Substation’s outgoing lines.
“The line tripping was quickly rectified, enabling the grid controller to restore full bulk power supply through the transmission lines at about 6.10 pm yesterday,” he said.
Backstory
It was widely reported on different media outlets yesterday that the national grid collapsed for the fifth time in 2024.
According to these reports, various distribution companies (DisCos) said their feeders became inactive, resulting in widespread blackouts across the country.
Moreover, Data from the Transmission Company of Nigeria’s (TCN’s) generation trend showed that the grid dropped from 3,241 megawatts (MW) to 1,255MW within the hour.
However, TCN said the grid did not collapse.
What you should know
Nigeria’s electricity sector continues to grapple with the challenges of a fragile national grid, leading to frequent nationwide blackouts.
As of June 2024, the grid has experienced a collapse four different times.
These collapses have significantly contributed to electricity disruptions across the country.
As a result, businesses have been forced to rely on self-servicing generators to maintain their operations.
In November 2013, the federal government privatised all power generation and 11 distribution companies, while retaining ownership of the transmission company.
This move aimed to improve efficiency in the sector.
However, since privatisation, the grid has continued to collapse despite ongoing efforts to reposition the power sector.
