The Federal Government, through the Transmission Company of Nigeria, has announced that it will launch an investigation into the cause of multiple power grid disturbances that occurred on Monday and Tuesday.
The PUNCH reported that this development follows remarks from the Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, who disputed reports of a grid collapse, instead characterizing the event as a “trip-off.”
In a statement, TCN confirmed that the national grid suffered what it described as a “partial disturbance” on Monday, with efforts to restore full functionality ongoing by Tuesday.
TCN spokesperson, Ndidi Mbah, explained that while the grid recovery process began immediately, with the Azura power station initiating the blackstart, recovery efforts reached an advanced stage by 10:24 a.m. on Tuesday before encountering a complication that temporarily hindered progress.
Mbah noted, “The slight setback notwithstanding, TCN continued with the grid recovery process, which has reached an advanced stage, ensuring bulk power availability to about 90 per cent of its substations nationwide.”
However, despite these assurances, many regions remained in darkness as of 7 p.m. on Tuesday.
The TCN spokesperson added that during the incident, the Ibom Gas generating station remained unaffected, as it had been isolated from the grid.
As a result, power supply to areas in the South-South region, including Eket, Ekim, Uyo, and Itu 132kV transmission substations, continued uninterrupted.
Mbah also assured that an investigation into the cause of the partial disturbance would be conducted once the grid was fully restored.
Meanwhile, Minister Adelabu, in an interview with The PUNCH on Tuesday, dismissed the notion of a complete grid collapse.
“There was no grid collapse; there was a trip-off. When you talk of grid collapse, it will involve 100 per cent of our grid infrastructure. But this was a line tripping in certain quarters in the country; even the major centres were not affected, talk of Abuja, Lagos, and Ibadan. And this was even restored within two hours,” he said.
The Minister emphasized that grid disturbances are not uncommon and are often influenced by various factors such as weather conditions and aging infrastructure.
He also highlighted the importance of quick response times in addressing such issues, “Let me tell you, grid disturbances are global. We are talking about electrical connections. There could be tripping off due to weather, due to the dilapidation of some infrastructure. What matters most is what is your rate of response to fix this. We responded swiftly and within two hours, we brought it back and it’s working now. So, it’s no big deal,” Adelabu added.
(PUNCH Metro)
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