*Pix above: National grid
The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) has blamed the collapse of the national grid on the bus section of a current transformer that exploded at 330kV Jebba Transmission substation.
The grid collapse occurred early Saturday morning, with many states reporting total blackouts.
Data obtained from the Nigerian System Operator’s portal (niggrid.org), revealed that the grid recorded an unprecedented zero Megawatts (MW) as of 8:16 am today.
Data showed that all 22 generation companies (GenCos) are down as of the time of this report.
The grid had collapsed twice this week, marking the eighth grid disturbance in 2024.
Reacting to the collapse, TCN’s General Manager, Public Affairs, Ndidi Mbah, said although the bus section of a current transformer had exploded at 330kV Jebba Transmission Substation, power has been restored.
“The Transmission Company of Nigeria hereby states that the national grid experienced a temporary disturbance at about 8:15 am, today, 19th Oct. 2024.
“According to the report from the NCC, 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 outbreak of fire and further damage to adjacent.
“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,” the statement read.
Meanwhile, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Chieftain and former Delta State gubernatorial aspirant, Chief Sunny Onuesoke, has described as national embarrassment, the frequent collapse of the nation national grid.
Onuesoke’s reaction is coming on the heels of the collapse of the national grid three times in a week.
Recall that Nigeria has witnessed many national grid collapses in 2024 and other past years. The recent ones which occurred three times within a week have giving Nigerians cause to complain.
Onuesoke who spoke to journalists on the sideline during a workshop on energy supply in Lagos said the frequent national grid failure is becoming an embarrassment and national threat to security of the country.
He disclosed that the failure of the national grid has serious consequences for the Nigerian economy, hence electricity supply is crucial to the country’s economic growth and development as a developing nation.(agency)///
