Grid collapse triggers nationwide blackout
• Kaduna, EKO distribution companies apologise • Power returns in some areas • Calabar, Ugwuaji, Markurdi, Jos, Gombe, Yola and Maidugiri axis still in ‘ darkness’
From Kingsley Jeremiah ( Abuja), Abdulganiyu Alabi, Saxone Akhaine, ( Kaduna) and Kehinde Olatunji ( Lagos)
AGAIN, Nigeria’s electricity supply suffered a major setback yesterday as the national grid, operated from Osogbo in Osun State, collapsed and plunged many parts of the country into darkness.
The grid, which has been epileptic for years, has recorded a number of failures this year, a development described as not only a national embarrassment but a grave economic threat.
The Association of Niger
ian Electricity Distributors ( ANED), the umbrella body of distribution companies, had last year decried the repeated occurrences, stating that TCN’S analogue system caused over 100 collapses since the privatisation of the power sector in 2013.
The Transmission Company of Nigeria ( TCN), a government agency, which manages the asset under privatised power sector, stated that the collapse happened about 11: 25am. The agency blamed the development on multiple tripping, adding that effort was on to restore electricity nationwide and that power had already been restored to some parts of the country.
“Power has been successfully restored to every part of the country, except Calabar, Ugwuaji, Markurdi, Jos, Gombe, Yola and Maidugiri axis. Effort is, however, ongoing to ensure full restoration nationwide,” spokesperson for TCN, Ndidi Mbah, said.
According to her, investigation will be conducted to establish immediate and remote cause( s) of the tripping as soon as the grid is fully restored.
EKO and Kaduna distribution companies announced the collapse via websites and text messages to their customers.
EKO power distribution company, on its twitter handle, wrote: “Dear customer, the outage you’re experiencing is due to a system collapse on the national grid.
We are working with our TCN partners to restore supply as soon as possible. Please bear with us.” Kaduna Electric, on the other hand, appealed to its customers to bear with the company as they partnered with the TCN to restore electricity as soon as possible. Abdulazeez Abdullahi , the Head Corporate Communication, who regretted inconveniences caused by the development, stated: “We regret to inform you that the loss of power supply in our franchise- Kaduna, Sokoto, Kebbi and Zamfara states- is as a result of the collapse of the national grid. The collapse occurred at about 11: 26 am this morning. Supply shall be restored as soon as the grid is back up. We regret all inconveniences.”