Nationwide blackout: TCN restores national grid

Following the blackout occasioned by the National grid collapse in the early hours of Thursday, the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), has assured Nigerians that efforts towards grid restoration nationwide are in progress and have reached advanced stages.

According to Ndidi Mbah, the general manager of the public affairs department, TCN, electricity supply is now available in the West, North Central, South, East, and a large portion of the Northern parts of the country.

Electricity Distribution Companies, including Enugu Electricity Distribution Company PLC (EEDC) and Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC), had confirmed the collapse of the total grid system, operated by the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) from Osogbo in Osun State, which occurred at 12:40 am, Thursday, 14th September, 2023.

However, according to Mbah, the power outage occurred after over 421 days of consistent grid stability.

Read also: Nationwide blackout as national grid collapses again

She explained that during the course of the grid restoration, the process initially suffered a setback, “this does not amount to another collapse. In the course of any grid restoration process, challenges may be encountered. This happened today while the grid restoration was in progress, but it was promptly addressed.

“It would be recalled that the last total system collapse recorded was on 20th July 2022, and since then, to the 13th of September, 2023, (421 days). Prior to this, the system had been stable in spite of the challenges posed by zero spinning reserve and lack of System Control and lack of adequate Data Acquisition (SCADA) essential to a strong and stable grid, among others.”

For her, TCN had been able to maintain 400 days of grid stability because it developed and deployed in-house stop-gap measures and tools that it has continued to use to manage the nation’s grid, ensuring its stability.

“The incident notwithstanding, TCN is determined to continue to do its best to ensure grid stability.

Meanwhile, the collapse that occurred after a fire incident on Kanji/Jebba 330kV line 2 is being investigated, with the view to forestalling future occurrence and invariably further strengthening the grid,” she said.