TCN restores 90% of substations after seventh grid collapse in 2024

The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) has restored bulk power supply to 90% of its substations following the latest collapse of the national electricity grid.

The incident, which marks the seventh system failure this year, occurred on Tuesday, October 15, causing widespread blackouts across the country. This came just 24 hours after a similar grid failure on October 14.

Ndidi Mbah, the TCN spokesperson, provided an update in a statement, confirming that efforts to fully restore the grid were ongoing. According to Mbah, grid recovery began immediately after the blackout, with the Azura power station initiating the blackstart process.

However, the recovery hit a setback at around 10:24 a.m. on Tuesday, delaying full restoration.

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“Despite the slight setback, TCN continued the recovery process and successfully restored bulk power to 90% of its substations nationwide,” Mbah said, highlighting that major distribution centres, including the Abuja axis, had their power supply restored.

The spokesperson also noted that some areas in the South-South region, powered by the Ibom Gas generating station, remained unaffected by the grid failure due to the station being isolated from the national grid.

These areas include Eket, Ekim, Uyo, and Itu, which maintained consistent power through local substations.

Mbah assured the public that an investigation into the cause of the repeated system collapses would commence once the grid is fully stabilized.

The persistent grid failures have raised concerns about Nigeria’s power infrastructure, sparking calls for more resilient solutions to prevent future disruptions.