National Grid Collapse: TCN Gives Update

The Transmission Company of Nigeria [TCN] announced on Thursday that the national grid’s restoration is nearly complete following its collapse on Wednesday.

TCN General Manager, Public Affairs, Mrs Ndidi Mbah, stated this in a statement made available to newsmen in Abuja.

Mbah stated that the national grid experienced a system disruption around 11:27 a.m. on Wednesday, but that restoration was nearly complete as of 11:00 p.m.

”The incident was as a result of a sudden drop in system frequency from 49.94 Hertz (HZ) to 47.36Hz, which created system instability,” she said.

Hertz [Hz] is defined as one cycle per second.

According to Mbah, reports from the National Control Centre (NCC) revealed that the collapse was caused by the tripping of a 106 Megawatt (MW) unit in one of the generating stations due to “Exhaust over Temperature.”

She stated that the tripping caused other grid-connected units in the plant to shut down, resulting in a total generation loss of 457MW.

“A train of events ensued, culminating in the collapse of the national grid.

“As obtainable in all systems, when a component of the electric power system is defective, the entire configuration is vitiated,” she said

Mbah stated that an investigation was underway to determine the cause of the failure.

She stated that the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry (NESI) appreciated the government’s and the country’s electricity consumers’ understanding.

Mbah said that NESI was dedicated.