Electricity supply to major cities across the country is gradually being restored after the national grid collapsed yesterday.
This is as the minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu met with top management teams of power Generating companies (GENCOs) and Distribution companies (DISCOs) in a bid to find lasting solutions to blackouts in some parts of the country.
Nigeria witnessed another round of blackout across the country on Sunday as the national power grid collapsed again, making it the first grid collapse in 2024.
The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN)-operated the grid went down at around 11:51 AM on Sunday, as a result, the system’s capacity dropped from 2,58.57 megawatts to 59.9 MW by midday.
TCN general manager, Public Affairs Ndidi Mbah, confirmed the development, which she however described as “Partial System Disturbance” and claimed that the grid was fully restored.
Checks indicated that generated capacity on the grid was 1,605 MW as at 7: 00 PM still much below the usual performance of about 4,000MW.
She said that gas constraints continue to impact grid flexibility and stability adding that ensuring sufficient gas supply to power generating stations is crucial for grid stability as sufficient generation allows for better grid management in the event of sudden generation losses like this.
According to her, TCN will investigate the cause of tripping of Sapele Steam & Egbin power generating units.
“TCN hereby states that the grid experienced a partial disturbance at about 11:21 hours today (Sunday) with Ibom power islanded, feeding Eket, Ekim, Itu & Uyo transmission substations, during the period of partial disturbance. TCN initiated immediate restoration of the affected part of the grid, and presently, the grid is fully restored.
“Prior to the incident, total generation on the grid was 3,901.25 MW at 08:00 Hours, a little over three hours before the time of partial collapse. It is important to note that low power generation has persisted since January 2024, to date, exacerbating daily due to the lingering gas constraint,” she stated.
According to her, “the National Control Center (NCC), the Internet of Things (IoT) revealed that just before the partial disturbance, which occurred at 11:21 Hours today, Sapele Steam & Egbin Substations lost a total of 29.32MW & 343.84MW at 11:20:14 Hours & 11:20:17 Hours respectively, totalling 373.16MW.
This, combined with the current low power generation due to gas constraints, caused the imbalance leading to the partial system disturbance” Mbah said.
Meanwhile, the minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, in a statement, said: “Power supply during the yuletide improved, but unfortunately, we’ve experienced setbacks in the new year. After investigations, it’s clear that the main cause of poor power supply is the low supply of gas to GenCos.”
Addressing managing directors and chief executive officers of the companies at separate meetings over the weekend, the minister said that there was a noticeable improvement in power supply during the yuletide period but the situation changed in the new year with poor supply leading to blackouts across the country.