TCN: National grid successfully restored after collapse

*The Transmission Company of Nigeria announces it has successfully restored the country’s national electricity grid after the facility suffered a system collapse recently

Isola Moses | ConsumerConnect

The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) has announced that it successfully restored the country’s national electricity grid after the facility had suffered a system collapse Thursday, March 28, 2024, at 4:28 p.m.

The TCN disclosed this development in a statement issued evening Friday, March 29, and noted that the company attained the full recovery after several hours same Thursday by 10:00 p.m.

The company said: “The grid has, however, since been recovered and is stable, and is currently transmitting all the generated power to distribution load centres nationwide.

It also stated that a report from the National Control Centre (NCC) in Osogbo, Osun State capital, indicated that the system disturbance was triggered by a significant reduction in generation capacity, primarily due to gas constraints.

According to TCN, the reduction led to a rapid decline in system frequency, creating a sudden grid imbalance.

The imbalance in grid stability, said the TCN, was worsened by the sudden tripping of Egbin generation turbine 3, resulting in an additional loss of 167MW load and the subsequent collapse of the grid.

The statement further noted: “TCN emphasises its unwavering commitment to addressing grid challenges and actively working to mitigate disruptions.

“In instances where challenges extend beyond TCN’s control, the company collaborates with other stakeholders in the power sector value chain to minimise the impact and swiftly restore the grid to normal operation.”

Prior to the restoration of the national grid, electricity Distribution Companies (DisCos) had pleaded for understanding from their customers as the country plunged into another blackout due to the grid collapse.

The Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC), in a statement, begged for understanding from its customers.

The AEDC had stated: “The system collapsed at about 16:28 hours …. 28 March, 2024, causing the outage currently being experienced across our franchise area,” AEDC posted on its X handle.

“We appeal for your understanding as all stakeholders are working hard to restore normal supply.”

In a similar notice to its customers, the management of Eko Electricity Distribution Company (EKEDC) said the system collapse led to a loss of power supply across its network.

“We are currently working with our partners as we hope for speedy restoration of the grid. We will keep you updated as soon as the power supply is restored. Kindly bear with us,” EKEDC said.

Thursday’s incident marked the second time the national grid has collapsed this year, following an earlier collapse, which occurred February 4, and threw the most parts of Nigeria into darkness.

The national grid also collapsed multiple times in 2023. It collapsed twice in September 2023 alone and once in December that year, according to reports.