TCN admits national grid’s collapse, plans probe
The Transmission Company of Nigeria has said it will conduct investigations to establish the cause(s) of the multiple tripping that led to the collapse of the nation’s power grid on Sunday.
The national grid collapsed on Sunday morning, plunging parts of the country into a total blackout for hours.
Before the TCN confirmed the development, two of the power distribution companies in the country, Kaduna Electric and Eko Electricity Distribution Company, had informed their customers that the collapse of the national gird had led to loss of power.
The government-owned TCN, which manages the grid, said in a statement that the system collapsed at 11:25am on Sunday.
It said it had since commenced grid restoration, adding that power had been successfully restored to every part of the country, except Calabar, Ugwuaji, Markurdi, Jos, Gombe, Yola and Maiduguri axes.
The General Manager, Public Affairs, TCN, Ndidi Mbah, said, “Effort is, however, ongoing to ensure full restoration nationwide.
“We regret the inconvenience this has caused electricity consumers. Investigations would be conducted to establish the immediate and remote cause(s) of the multiple tripping as soon as the grid is fully restored – considering that the grid had been relatively stable in the last couple of months.”
On the blackout in Abuja earlier on Sunday, the Abuja Electricity Distribution Company informed customers that the activities of vandals on the 330/132kV Gwagwalada/Kukwaba line transporting power to the 2x60MVA Kukwaba injection substation had disrupted supply.
It outlined the affected areas to include Kaura District, Galadimawa, Lokogoma, Sun City, Moccido Housing estate, Games Village, Eyes Centre Hospital, National Stadium; and Feeds Milipat Filling Station.
Others include part of Indoor Stadium, Kuchingoro, Karamajigi, King Park Estate, Royal Ancor Estate, DSS Quarters, Wilbahi Estate, Wuye, Utako and environs.
AEDC stated that while the liveline maintenance crew of the TCN were already working on the vandalised section of the 330kV/132kV line, efforts were also on to back-feed the affected customers from Apo.
Disco apologised to customers for the disruption and promised that electricity supply would be restored immediately the fault was cleared.