The repeated collapse of Nigeria’s electricity transmission infrastructure has worsened supply to homes and offices, bringing back long-standing doubts on the durability of the transmission network, writes Chineme Okafor
Last week, Nigeria’s overall power generation averaged about 1,681.36 megawatts (MW), down from a peak of 3,131.1MW that was generated before a reported system collapse, which left the country with that low level of supply Sunday night.
As reported by THISDAY, before the transmission system collapsed, power generation had on Saturday peaked at 3,410MW, lasting just for only two hours and then dipped to 2,295.93MW.
According to the daily hourly demand report obtained by the paper from the National Control Centre (NCC), Osogbo, the 2,295.93MW was generated for the seven hours that extended till Sunday, before it dropped to 1,745.51 megawatts, which lasted for 10 hours and then 1,681.36MW on Monday.
It was further learnt that the low generation from the grid meant that the 11 electricity distribution companies (Discos) got less power from the grid, thus resulting in most parts of the country staying without grid electricity for long hours.
The newspaper pointed out that, for instance, Eko Electricity Distribution Company (EKEDC), which was allocated over 400 megawatts when generation improved during the Christmas celebration, received just about 192.01MW for four hours before it dropped further to 162.01MW which lasted for six hours.
Also, before the system collapsed on Sunday, EKEDC received allocations of 375.10MW for two hours, 252.55MW for three hours, and 232.55MW for three hours, as well as 212.55MW for one hour.
Quoting the spokesman of EKEDC, Mr. Godwin Idemudia, in a statement which contained the Disco’s apology to its customers over the prolonged power outage, THISDAY reported Idemudia’s confirmation that the outage was due to a system collapse from the national grid.
Idemudia explained that repairs were being carried out to bring the system back on line and restore power, adding that the Ikeja West line, which comprises of Agbara and Akoka, had gradually been restored, and other areas of Lagos were due to come on line soon.
“We are therefore appealing to customers to bear with us as supply will be restored as soon as these repairs are concluded. EKEDC highly regrets any inconveniences caused by this outage,” Idemudia stated.
The experience of Eko Disco was however not different from what existed in other parts of the country where supplies have dipped on the back of the frequent collapse of Nigeria’s transmission system.
Reports from consumers in Enugu and Abuja confirmed that the country’s electricity system was indeed going through a very difficult time again, as always, all due to the volatile transmission system.
While data from the NCC also showed that a partial system collapse occurred on January 12 at about 8.41am and resulted to loss of supply to Lagos, Osogbo, Jebba, Kainji and Shiroro, another system collapse was reported to have occurred on January 15, as the Ugwuaji/Makurdi 330kV line 1 tripped at the Ugwuaji transmission station on a distance protection 3-phases.’
As at the end of 2016, data from the sector’s statistics website,nesistats.org, indicated that 11 total and two partial system collapses were recorded within that year.
The report also noted that some generation plants – Transcorp, Sapele I and II, Afam VI, Omotosho I and II, Olorunsogo I, Geregu I, and Okpai, which were affected by the collapse, were subsequently restarted, but the situation has yet to improve as the System Operator reported on Thursday that just about 3019.20MW was generated for the entire country.
It was further learnt that Kainji 1G11 and 1G12, Alaoji GT2, and Sapele ST1 were yet to come back on stream from the collapse.
Perennial Issue
Although, system collapses could originate from several causes, the obvious causes in the case of Nigeria have been the frequent loss of generation capacity and instability in the transmission network.
The frequent trip of a power plant from gas supply shortages causes a mismatch between production and load transmission. This puts a strain on other generators, resulting in under-frequency in the system.
Another example is also an overload of the transmission system caused by congestion, forcing an overloaded power line to trip, and causing increased loading of other lines thus resulting in additional trips, and in the end, a total collapse due to the high impedance in the weakened grid.
Though the Federal Government had overtime insisted that the transmission system was being upgraded and could not be classified as the weakest link in the entire value chain, the frequency of system collapses recorded on the grid does not provide evidence to back up its claims.
As recently claimed by the Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, that the transmission network has been upgraded to now take up to 7200MW of electricity from the generators to the distributors, the collapse last week further confirmed claims by the Discos and others that the transmission network was still weak and unable to support generation capacity growth in the sector.
The minister said during a recent meeting in Lagos that the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) has increased its electricity wheeling capacity to 7200MW, then alleging that the transmission network was no longer the weakest link in the sector as often stated by stakeholders.
“The generalisation about the grid not been able to carry what we generate is really an inaccurate reflection of realities. We have expanded the grid, additional projects are going on, and the Kudenda substation in Kaduna is part of the grid expansion,” he claimed.
