- Grid collapse caused by sudden frequency rise – TCN
Nigeria’s national power grid suffered another collapse on Thursday, just two days after a partial collapse, resulting in a complete blackout across the country.
Data from the Nigerian System Operator’s portal (niggrid.org) indicated that power generation fell to zero megawatts at 11:30 a.m., impacting all 22 operational generation companies nationwide.
This latest collapse followed a partial grid failure that occurred just two days ago, as the Transmission Company of Nigeria continues to struggle with maintaining a stable electricity supply.
The country’s first major blackout of the year occurred on February 4, with further breakdowns recorded on August 5 and three times in October.
The October 14 incident led to a partial outage the next day, and a subsequent disturbance on October 19 nearly caused another complete collapse.
Following the collapse, Ikeja Electric released a statement stating that it is currently experiencing a system outage.
“Dear Esteemed Customer, please be informed that we experienced a system outage today 07 November 2024 at 11:29Hrs affecting supply within our network. Restoration of supply is ongoing in collaboration with our critical stakeholders. Kindly bear with us,” the statement read.
Nigerians took to social media to voice their frustration over the ongoing grid instability.
Adetayo Adegbmle, a prominent critic of the power sector, tweeted, “That’s actually the second time in the past 10 hours….It’s crazy what’s happening at @TCN_NIGERIA.”
His tweet highlights concerns over the frequency and duration of outages, which have significantly worsened in recent months.
Similarly, user @osunsinatolu criticised the government’s recent decision to remove fuel subsidies in light of the continued power issues.
“A country that has not fixed its electricity issue should not be removing fuel subsidies,” the tweet read. “National grid issues every time and you can’t even afford to buy fuel. This is annoying.”
In another post, @timiPR remarked on the grid’s deteriorating reliability compared to previous years, stating, “This national grid used to collapse like once every 4-6 months back then but look at what is going on now. It goes off almost every week now. It went off 2 days ago, yeah? Now it’s down again.”
Blackouts are frequent in Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country with over 200 million people, due to ageing power infrastructure, vandalism and inadequate gas supply for its thermal plants, which account for over 75 percent of output.
Although Nigeria has the infrastructure to generate about 13,000 megawatts of power, its creaking grid can only distribute a third of it, forcing businesses and households to run costly fuel generators.
Grid collapse caused by sudden frequency rise – TCN
However, the Transmission Company of Nigeria has identified a sudden rise in frequency from 50.33Hz to 51.44Hz as the cause of the latest National grid collapse on Thursday.
A statement by TCN spokesperson, Ndidi Mbah, noted that disturbances at the grid, a second in the space of three days, started at approximately 11:29 am Thursday morning.
Mbah said that recovery efforts began immediately, and the Abuja Axis was restored within 28 minutes, adding that recovery was still ongoing.
The TCN further disclosed that the frequency spike was caused by issues encountered at one of our substations, which had to be shut down to prevent further complications.
The company noted that it was actively engaged in significant repair work on several critical transmission lines and substations.
This includes the 330kV transmission lines along the Shiroro–Mando axis, major upgrades at the Jebba Transmission Substation, and the restoration of the second Ugwuaji–Apir 330kV transmission line.
“Furthermore, following the submission of the investigative report on the causes of previous grid collapses, we have begun addressing the identified weaknesses in the transmission system.
“Efforts are being made to close the gaps highlighted in the report and to enhance the overall stability and resilience of the grid. These efforts include both technical upgrades and strategic interventions based on the committee’s recommendations.
“However, it is important to note that while these repairs and improvements are underway, some degree of instability in the system is likely to persist until all major works are completed. We acknowledge the impact of these disruptions and ask for the understanding and patience of the public during this challenging period,” the statement read in part.
The company said it remained committed to improving the reliability of electricity supply, recognizing the vital role that stable power plays in Nigeria’s socio-economic development.
“We assure the public that all necessary measures are being taken to ensure the grid’s long-term stability, in line with the recommendations of the investigative committee, while also addressing infrastructure damage such as vandalized transmission lines,” it added.
