By Emmanuel Addeh
The nation’s electricity grid yesterday suffered another system collapse, throwing Nigerians into darkness and leaving businesses to hook on to alternative electricity sources.
Nigeria’s erratic power grid, along with the resulting precarious energy supply is a key issue hindering growth in the continent’s largest economy.
However, the country has continued to implement tariff increases in state-controlled prices since 2015, which the government insists is needed to allow distribution companies to recoup costs and pay to generate companies.
Operators have said that a “spinning reserve,” the amount of unused capacity in online energy assets which can compensate for power shortages or frequency drops within a given period of time holds the solution to the occasional collapses.
In a statement confirming the incident, the government-run Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), said it was investigating the latest disruption, noting that it was working to resolve the problem.
The General Manager, Public Affairs of the company, Mrs. Ndidi Mbah, blamed what she described as voltage issues for the collapse, adding that the TCN was probing the cause of the incident.
She said: “The Transmission Company of Nigeria hereby states that at about 11.01 am today, 12th of May, 2021, there was a total system collapse of the grid, as a result of voltage collapse at some parts of the grid.
“TCN commenced grid recovery immediately after the collapse, from Shiroro Generating Station to Katampe transmission substation, Abuja through the Shiroro – Katampe line at 11:29 am, and also through Delta Generating Station to Benin Transmission Substation and has reached Osogbo and parts of Lagos.
“While the grid restoration and power restoration gradually progress to other parts of the country, the cause of voltage collapse that precipitated this failure is equally being investigated.”
The TCN appealed for patience, saying it is working assiduously to ensure full restoration of the grid and consequently power supply to the remaining parts of the country.
