After 3rd collapse, national grid trudges to 2,188MW

After 3rd collapse, national grid trudges to 2,188MW

Incident caused by fire at Afam Plant —TCN

Third time after its collapse in 2024, which resulted in nationwide blackout, the national grid is gradually being restored.

The grid, which collapsed at past 2 am on Monday, has been restored to 2,188.77 megawatts as at 2 pm same day.

The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) while confirming the restoration of the national grid said the collapse occured following a fire incident at the Afam Power Generating Station, in River State.

The spokesperson for the commission, Ndidi Mbah, disclosed this in a statement on Monday.

According to Mbah, the collapse was caused by a fire which erupted at the Afam V 300kV busbar coupler, leading to the tripping of units at Afam III and Afam VI.

He further noted that the fire incident destabilised the grid, causing partial collapse.

“The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) announces the full restoration of the national grid following a fire incident at the Afam Power Generating Station, which caused a partial disturbance of the nation’s grid.At 02:41 Hours today, 15th April, 2024, a fire erupted at the Afam V 330kV bus bar coupler, leading to the tripping of units at Afam III and Afam VI.

“This resulted in a sudden generation loss of MW and 305MW respectively, destabilizing the grid and causing a partial collapse,” Mbah said.

Furthermore, the commission explained that the collapse did not affect the Ibom Power Plant which was isolated from the grid, and responsible for the electricity supply in some parts of Port Harcourt Region.

According to TCN, this minimised the effect of the disturbance of the system, as electricity consumers in that regions were not affected by the collapse.

“During the incident, the Ibom Power Plant was isolated from the grid and was supplying parts of the Port Harcourt Region.

“This further minimised the effect of the system disturbance. TCN confirms that the affected section of the grid has been fully restored and stabilized.

“TCN reaffirms its commitment to enhancing the resilience and reliability of the national grid and pledges to continue investing in measures aimed at further strengthening the grid infrastructure,” the statement added.

The national electricity grid collapsed early on Monday at about 2:00 am, plunged the nation into total blackout.

According to data from the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), the four generation companies recorded 0MW generation from around 2:00 am this morning.

Furthermore, load allocation to Discos as of the time of filing this report was zero in seven out of the 11 electricity distribution companies (Discos), with Ikeja, Benin, Abuja and Ibadan Discos the exceptions.

In total, the load allocation to Discos stood at a meagre 250MW on Monday morning.

The electricity grid, on February 4, collapsed for the first time in 2024.

Also, the country suffered another nationwide blackout following the collapse of the national grid on March 28.