TCN breaks silence on collapse, says national ‘grid fully restored

Following a report by Ripples Nigeria of the graveyard silence by the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) over the latest collapse of the national grid that has thrown Nigerians into darkness, the company has confirmed the “full restoration” of the national grid.

In a statement titled “Partial System Disturbance Today At 11:21hrs, Grid Fully Restored” subsequently issued by TCN’s Public Affairs General Manager, Ndidi Mbah, she said the blackout followed partial disturbance experienced by the grid at about 11:21Hours on Sunday.

The statement noted that the incident affected the Ibom power station, feeding Eket, Ekim, Itu and Uyo transmission substations.

According to Ndidi, the “TCN initiated immediate restoration of the affected part of the grid, and presently, the grid is fully restored.

“Prior to the incident, the total generation on the grid was 3,901.25 MW at 08:00Hours, a little over three hours before the time of partial collapse”.

TCN blames gas constraints for poor power supply

The company, however, noted that low power generation has persisted since “January 2024, to date, exacerbating daily due to the lingering gas constraint”.

“According to the National Control Center, NCC, the Internet of Things, IoT, revealed that just before the partial disturbance, which occurred at 11:21Hrs today, Sapele Steam & Egbin Substations lost a total of 29.32MW & 343.84MW at 11:20:14Hrs & 11:20:17Hrs 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.

“Gas constraints continue to impact grid flexibility and stability. 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. TCN will investigate the cause of tripping of Sapele Steam & Egbin power generating units” the statement added.

By Babajide Okeowo

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