The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) announced on Tuesday that efforts to restore the national grid, which collapsed on Monday, are ongoing and nearly complete.
In a statement released on Tuesday, Ndidi Mbah, the Public Affairs General Manager of TCN, explained that the national grid experienced a partial disturbance on October 14, 2024, at approximately 6:48 PM.
“The recovery of the grid commenced immediately, with the Azura power station providing the black start,” the statement noted.
“Grid recovery reached advanced stages at about 10:24 AM today (Tuesday), when it encountered a challenge that caused a slight setback in the recovery process,” he continued.
Despite the minor setback, Mbah confirmed that TCN is continuing its grid recovery efforts, which have advanced to ensure bulk power availability to about 90% of substations nationwide.
The company also indicated that power supply has been restored to the Abuja area and other major distribution centers across the country.
Notably, Mbah highlighted that the partial disturbance did not impact the Ibom Gas generating station, which was isolated from the grid during the incident and continued to supply power to areas in the South-Southern region, including Eket, Ekim, Uyo, and the Itu 132kV transmission substations.
Mbah further stated that an investigation into the cause of the incident will commence once the grid is fully restored.
This incident marks one of several grid collapses this year, following similar occurrences on February 4, March 28, April 15, July 6, and August 5.
TCN has yet to comment on this latest collapse.
In April, Nafisat Ali, the Executive Director of the Independent System Operator (ISO) department of TCN, addressed the Senate Committee on Power regarding the frequent grid failures, attributing the issues to a range of factors.
“The causes of grid collapse in Nigeria spread across all participants, from generation companies to transmission and distribution,” she stated.
She concluded by saying “From generation companies, there is the inadequacy of gas supply, improper coordination of plants and gas pipelines, and poor generation availability.”
