National grid collapse declines by 76% in five years
Port Harcourt -- The Transmission Company of Nigeria, TCN, says the number of national grid disturbances and system collapse reduced by 76.47 percent in the last five years.
The national electricity grid has collapsed five times this year alone, as the first quarter of the year recorded four grid disturbances while a partial grid collapse occurred in April, due to vandalism, equipment failure and other technical issues.
The TCN said it only recorded 20 grid collapse from 2020 till date in comparison to the previous five years, 2015 to 2019, when the national grid collapses 85 times.
TCN General Manager, Public Affairs, Ndidi Mbah, said the improvement in the record was due to efforts by the company’s management to strategically expand the grid while harnessing in-house capacities to enhance grid stability.
Mbah noted though that there was room for improvement and that TCN will continue to work hard to further reduce the number of grid disturbances to the barest minimum.
"In recent years, the number of grid disturbances and or system collapses has gradually reduced, contrary to popular opinion.
"Clearly, between 2020 to date (five years), we recorded 14 total and six partial grid
disturbances totalling 20, which represents a 76.47% reduction in grid disturbance, when compared to the previous five years (2015 to 2019) where we had 64 total and 21 partial grid disturbances, totalling 85 times.
"This improvement is, however, not unconnected to the continuous effort by the management under Engr. Sule Abdulaziz to strategically expand the grid while harnessing in-house capacities to find solutions to grid stability, pending the deployment of SCADA/EMS. TCN will continue to work hard to further reduce the number of grid disturbances to the barest minimum," TCN said in a statement.
Meanwhile, in its effort to enhance grid management, the company recently deployed the Generation Dip/Loss Detection System, GLDS, to enhance the stability of the national power grid by detecting and responding early to sudden drop or dip in power generation across the network.