A transformer explosion at Jebba Transmission Substation triggered a third National Power Grid collapse on Saturday, leaving the country without a public power supply for several hours.

The collapse occurred at 8.15 am after the grid collapsed twice last Monday.

A check by Sunday Vanguard on data supplied by the National System Operator, an arm of the Transmission Company of Nigeria, TCN, showed grid supply was 3,041.72MW as of 8 a.m. before dropping significantly to 47MW by 9 a.m., with only Azura-Edo IPP on the grid.

Further analysis showed that the grid on Friday recorded a peak supply of 4,807.2MW with 4,011.27MW as the lowest supply.

On its verified social media account, X (formerly Twitter), TCN confirmed that seven of the nation’s 11 electricity distribution companies had zero load allocation.

Also, TCN’s General Manager, Public Affairs, Ndidi Mbah, explained that a report from the NCC (National Control Centre) showed that “the bus section of a current transformer exploded at 330kV Jebba Transmission Substation and as expected, the protection system was activated, and this promptly opened the busbars to curtail the explosion, thereby preventing the outbreak of fire and further damage to adjacent equipment.

“The action of the protection system led to a temporary disturbance on the grid.
“Our engineers at Jebba have successfully carried out switchings, isolating the faulty current transformer. They have equally reconfigured the busbar arrangement, restoring power supply to the station, and other parts of the grid”.

NERC to hold public hearing

Reacting to the latest setback in electricity supply, the industry regulator, the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, NERC, expressed concern over the rising incidents of grid collapse.

The Commission in a statement posted on its verified X handle said it will hold a public hearing on the issue in the coming days.

The statement read: “The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission notes with concern the recent escalating incidence of grid disturbances often leading to marked outage in several states thus reversing many of the gains recently achieved in reducing infrastructure deficit and improving grid stability.

“Initial reports on the grid disturbance that occurred this morning indicate that today’s outage was triggered by an explosion of a current transformer at the Jebba transmission station at 08.15hrs and the associated cascade of power plants shut down arising from the loss of load. However, efforts to restore supply have advanced with power significantly restored, as at 13.00hrs, in 33 states and the FCT.

“In line with the provisions of the Electricity Act 2023, the unbundling of the System Operator function (ISO) out of Transmission Company of Nigeria Plc is ongoing with the expectation that an independent SO would engender more discipline in grid management and optimized investment in infrastructure.

“In pursuit of finding a permanent resolution to the challenges of the national grid, the Commission shall shortly conduct an investigative public hearing to identify immediate and remote causes of recurring incidence of grid disturbances and widespread outages.

“The date and venue of the public hearing will shortly be announced in the national dailies and stakeholders are encouraged to participate”.

Checks on grid data showed that as of 3.49 pm, six DisCos had received 760MW combined with Jos, Kaduna, Kano, Port Harcourt and Yola DisCos still without load allocation.

DisCos apologise to customers

The Electricity Distribution Companies, DisCos, have apologized to their customers, asking them to show understanding as efforts were being made to stabilize the system. In a notice to its customers, Eko DisCos, stated: “Kindly be informed that we experienced a system outage today 19/10/24 at 08:15Hrs affecting power supply across our network. “The relevant stakeholders are currently working to effect restoration of supply to all locations affected by this development. Kindly bear with us.”

Checks by Vanguard indicated that other DisCos have also apologized to their customers in different parts of the nation.

Instability hurting households, businesses — CPPE

In an interview with Vanguard, yesterday, the Director/CEO, Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise, CPPE, Dr. Muda Yusuf, said: “The frequency of national grid collapse is worrisome and alarming. Energy is critical for business operations and the welfare of the people. So, anytime there is grid collapse, it dislocates the activities of citizens and businesses because the cost of alternatives, mostly the Premium Motor Spirit, PMS, also known as petrol and diesel are very prohibitive.

“That is why it is very concerning. This is why we need to expedite actions on reforms to decentralize sources of energy so that we do not over-depend on the grid. We need to work towards enabling renewables to play increased roles in the nation’s energy mix by removing all forms of taxes and levies. This would go a long way to make the cost of renewable energy more affordable to Nigerians.”

The Transmission Company of Nigeria had, on Friday, announced that two towers along its 330kV Shiroro-Kaduna transmission lines one and two have been vandalized, damaging parts of both transmission lines.

According to reports from the Shiroro Regional office of TCN, the 330kV transmission line one tripped first, followed shortly by the second. Efforts were still ongoing to reclose the first line, prompting the urgent mobilization of local vigilantes to patrol the lines.

This led to the discovery of two damaged towers – towers T133 and tower T 136 – with their cables badly damaged at several points.

It stated that arrangements were in top gear to deploy the newly procured “emergency restoration system” to the site, pending the reconstruction of the damaged towers.

“TCN has also conducted an aerial survey in collaboration with security operatives, given the area’s vulnerability to banditry, which poses a significant threat to both TCN installations and personnel.
“In the interim, our engineers have implemented a temporary measure to supply bulk power to the Kaduna and Kano regions via the 330kV Kaduna-Jos transmission line.

“The vandalized Shiroro-Kaduna 330kV lines 1&2 are vital lines through which bulk power is transmitted to parts of the North West region, with each line capable of carrying 600MW.

“The vandalism of the towers and transmission lines presents a significant challenge to bulk power transmission in that axis.

“We are, however, committed to re-erecting the towers and restringing the transmission lines to restore bulk power transmission through both 330kV power transmission lines,” the statement read.

Credit: Vanguard Nigeria