TCN restores collapsed power grid

Power supply in Nigeria rebounded on Sunday, 10th April 2022 from the decline recorded on Saturday, when electricity supply in the country crashed by 47.3% to 37,440.1MWh, which is the lowest level since the recovery from the national grid collapse in March.

According to the Minister of Power, Aliyu Abubakar, the national grid collapsed as a result of vandals, which disrupted the transmission tower between Akwa Ibom and Cross River states, leading to yet another blackout.

“The immediate cause of the national blackout (system collapse) was an act of vandalism on a transmission tower on the Odukpani — Ikot Ekpene 330kV double circuit transmission line thus resulting in a sudden loss of about 400MW of generation. This consequently led to a cascade of plants shut down across the country. We wish to notify the public that power on the grid is being restored sequentially by the system operator as other on-grid power plants are being dispatched to cover the lost generation capacity from the Calabar power plant owned by the Niger Power Holding Company Ltd.”

On Sunday, energy sent out surged by 114.7% to stand at 80,382.73MWh, accounting for 98.74% of the total 81,405.31MWh generated.

Despite the improvement in energy, supply and generation is still way below desired levels as Nigeria requires at least 105,000MWh of daily supply.

Also, according to the data, which was obtained from the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), energy generation peaked at 3,658.8MW, which is 11.5% higher than the 3,281.5MW recorded on Saturday, while the lowest was 3,117.4MW.

Highlights

Peak generation – 3,658.8MW (+11.5%)
Off-peak generation – 3,117.4MW (+9,346%)
Energy generated – 81,405.31MWh (+114.4%)
Energy sent out – 80,382.73MWh (+114.7%)
Also, the highest frequency for the day was 50.82Hz, while the lowest frequency was 49.14Hz.

The grid, which has collapsed several times this year, collapsed at about 6:30 pm on Friday and crashed again at about 8:30 pm, causing power outages in many parts of the country.

Abubakar said, “While a detailed investigation into the immediate and remote causes of the recurring grid failure is currently ongoing by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission and System Operator (the operator of the national grid), the process of restoring supply is ongoing with some sections of the national grid already energised, and supply restored to consumers. We wish to notify the public that power on the grid is being restored sequentially by the system operator as other on-grid power plants are being dispatched to cover the lost generation capacity from the Calabar power plant owned by the Niger Power Holding Company Ltd.” (Nairametrics)