TCN says 313MW “suddenly removed from grid” triggering collapse

The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) explained the national grid collapse that occurred on Saturday, July 6, and announced that the grid has been restored across the country. 

In a statement on Sunday, the spokesperson for TCN, Ndidi Mbah, said the partial disturbance on the grid was caused by an unexpected tripping of three (3) units of a power generating station, which suddenly removed 313MW from the grid. 

He said the tripping led to system instability and a partial collapse of the grid, causing blackouts across certain regions in the country. 

However, he said the grid has been completely restored to its full capacity following the restoration efforts by its operators on Saturday.  

“The Transmission Company of Nigeria, TCN, hereby states that there was a partial disturbance of the grid at about 15.09 hours yesterday, 6th July 2024. 

“The system disturbance, which brings to three, the partial grid disturbances, with one total disturbance this year, is suspected to have been triggered by the unexpected tripping of three (3) units of a power generating station, which suddenly removed 313MW from the grid, causing system instability that led to the loss of bulk supply to a section of the national grid. 

“Also, the operators commenced grid restoration efforts immediately after the incident. At about 21.57 hours yesterday, the entire part of the grid that was affected by yesterday’s incident was successfully restored,” Mbah said.  

ThePressNG had earlier reported that the national grid system collapsed yet again on Saturday, leading to a nationwide blackout. 

This is the fourth time the grid has collapsed this year. 

Confirming the blackout in a statement on Saturday, the Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC) said the power outage being experienced within its franchise is due to a system failure from the national grid. 

“Please be informed that the power outage being experienced is due to a system failure from the national grid at 3:10 pm today, affecting the power supply to our franchise areas,” the AEDC said. 

According to notice by TCN, the collapse occurred around 15:09 hours on Saturday. 

Consequently, bulk electricity supply from the Transmission Company of Nigeria National Control Centre has been disrupted. 

Nigeria’s electricity sector continues to grapple with the challenges of a fragile national grid, usually leading to nationwide blackouts every other time.  

As of June 2024, the grid has experienced a collapse four different times.  

This contributed significantly to electricity disruption across the country, with businesses having to rely on self-servicing generators to run their activities. 

In November 2013, the federal government privatised all power generation and 11 distribution companies, with the FG retaining the ownership of the transmission company. This was to improve efficiency in the sector. 

However, since privatisation, the grid has continued to collapse amid efforts to reposition the power sector.