The national power grid has been restored by the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) following a system failure at 4:28 pm on Thursday.
The TCN disclosed that the power grid was fully restored by 10pm of that day, according to a statement released on Friday.
In another development, Eko Electricity Distribution Company revealed on Friday that it had been able to get a little power supply from the revived grid which allowed for resumption of activities at Agbara, Ojo, Akangba, Ajah, Lekki and Alagbon Transmission Stations.
Ndidi Mbah, spokesperson for the TCN voiced hopefulness about the recovery saying “We are hopeful that full restoration will soon be achieved as we work to ensure normalcy in supply chain. Further information will be communicated accordingly”.
According to Mbah, the National Control Centre Osogbo showed a significant reduction in generation capacity caused by limited gas supply as the immediate cause of the system disturbance. Consequently, there was an immediate drop in system frequency which resulted in a sudden imbalance within the grid.
The situation became worse when Egbin generation Turbine 3 unexpectedly went off, and it added another 167MW loss of load thus leading to a total collapse of the grid.
Nevertheless, TCN has informed that it has restored and stabilized the grid. The entire power generated is now being transmitted by this system to various distribution centers across the nation.
“TCN’s commitment is unwavering in solving hitches along its transmission lines and it actively takes part in avoiding outages whenever they occur from time to time. In situations where we have no control on what occurs, we collaborate with other entities within our industry to reduce impact and restore normal grid operation as promptly as possible,” TCN admitted.
According to reports, the major cities of Lagos and Abuja were reportedly thrown into darkness due to the collapse of the grid.
A report by the International Energy Agency has revealed that Nigeria’s national power grid recorded 46 collapses between 2017 and 2023. In fact, there was an increase in frequency of blackouts across the nation in 2023 with a big one taking place on September 14 occasioned by a fire on a major transmission line.
However, while speaking about this ongoing power challenge, Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu informed the Nigerian people that they can look forward to resolving these issues within a three-to-six month period. He also stated that gas suppliers are set to resume receiving payments from April having stopped deliveries for non-payment by electricity generating companies.