CITIZENS COMPASS–For the third time in Year 2024, the National Grid collapsed on Monday, April 15, 2024, throwing many parts of Nigeria into darkness for hours.
The collapse occurred at about 3 a.m. but was later restored.
The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) confirmed the full restoration of the National Grid attributing the collapse to a fire incident at the Afam Power Generating Station, in River State.
The spokesperson for the commission, Ndidi Mbah, disclosed this in a statement.
According to him, the collapse was caused by a fire that erupted at the Afam V 300kV bus bar coupler, leading to the tripping of units at Afam III and Afam VI.
He further noted that the fire incident destabilized 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, April 15, 2024, a fire erupted at the Afam V 330kV busbar 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.
TCN said 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.
He said this minimized the effect of the disturbance of the system, as electricity consumers in that region 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 minimized 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.”
