The Minister for Power, Adebayo Adelabu, has ordered the immediate replacement of aged equipment as part of the recommendations to stop the incessant collapse of the national grid.
Adelabu assured that the replacement would be achieved in six months.
Adelabu also directed the Transmission Company of Nigeria and all other relevant agencies of the ministry to begin the immediate implementation of the recommendations of the inter-agency committee, set up to address the incessant grid collapses in the power sector.
The Minister’s marching order came as the TCN reported that the national grid experienced a disturbance at approximately 11:29 am, on Thursday, November 7, 2024, which was caused by a sudden rise in frequency from 50.33Hz to 51.44Hz.
The Special Adviser to the Minister on Strategic Communications and Media, Bolaji Tunji, in a statement, quoted the Minister as saying that all relevant agencies in the ministry must brace up for the immediate implementation of the recommendations of the committee, which was submitted on Wednesday, November 6, 2024.
“The recommendations of the committee are far-reaching and will proffer lasting solutions to the incessant power grid collapses that we have embarrassingly witnessed in the country in the immediate and long term”, Bolaji said.
Poor maintenance
On Wednesday, the investigative panel revealed that a poor maintenance culture and inadequate and aged equipment, among other challenges, are the underlying reasons for the incessant multiple collapses of the national power grid witnessed in recent months.
It also outlined recommendations to be achieved in one month, six months and one year.
The short-term (one month) recommendations include; a review of relaying philosophy and settings, particularly at critical nodes, capacity development for maintenance/System Operation staff, Testing existing equipment at the critical nodes to establish reliability, developing framework and adopting reliability-centred maintenance and Identifying critical ongoing projects for speedy completion (low-hanging fruits).
The recommended objectives to be achieved in six months include strengthening relay coordination, replacement of aged and obsolete equipment, enhancing Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition and telecommunication tools, developing a framework to attract private investment across the value chain, deploying IoT devices on generating units and transmission lines, and secure firm gas contracts.
Other recommendations include developing and implementing measures to combat vandalisation and energy theft, developing measures to reduce transmission loss factor and aggregate technical, commercial and collection loss, human capacity development, Installation of harmonics filters by DisCo and GenCo customers, Decentralisation of TCN central store, enforcement of Free Governor Mode of Operation and the removal of ad-lash taped optic fibre.
In its one-year target, the committee recommended enhancing the distribution network and capacity, promoting decentralized grid management, implementing full SCADA and Telecommunication upgrades across the network, modernising grid infrastructure (Smart Grid), promoting and adopting the use of the ringfenced network, Replaciof aged and obsolete equipment, integration of renewable energy resources, replacement of ad-lash taped with OPGW and intense human Capacity Development.
Problem may persist
Meanwhile, the Transmission Company of Nigeria has indicated that the latest national grid collapse, which occurred twice within 72 hours, may not be the last, as such failures are likely to persist.
A statement by the General Manager of Public Affairs, Ndidi Mbah, noted that this is due to the ongoing repair of critical infrastructure to enhance the overall stability and resilience of the grid.
On Thursday, the national grid collapsed again, marking the 11th of such incidents since January 2024.
Our correspondents confirmed that as of 11am, the 22 power plants were only able to generate 2,323 megawatts of electricity, with generation dropping to 0.00MW.
The peak generation for the day was 3,743MW as of 10 am.
But providing an update on the issue, the transmission company said it is working to find a lasting solution company through significant repair work on several critical transmission lines and substations, which may increase the electricity load on functional equipment.
According to her, the grid disturbance experienced on Thursday at approximately 11:29am on Thursday was caused by a sudden rise in frequency from 50.33Hz to 51.44Hz.
She said the frequency spike was caused by issues encountered at one of TCN’s substations, which had to be shut down to prevent further complications.
Meanwhile, TCN said the ongoing repair works in the power sector were responsible for Thursday’s grid collapse.
“Recovery efforts began immediately, and the Abuja Axis was restored within 28 minutes. Recovery is still ongoing,” Mbah said in a statement, even as many said they were yet to get power supply since the first grid collapse on Tuesday.
“The frequency spike was caused by issues encountered at one of TCN’s substations, which had to be shut down to prevent further complications. In addition to this, we are actively engaged in significant repair works on several critical transmission lines and substations. This includes the 330kV transmission lines along the Shiroro–Mando axis, major upgrades at the Jebba Transmission Substation, and the restoration of the second Ugwuaji–Apir 330kV transmission line.
“Furthermore, following the submission of the investigative report on the causes of previous grid collapses, we have begun addressing the identified weaknesses in the transmission system. Efforts are being made to close the gaps highlighted in the report, and to enhance the overall stability and resilience of the grid. These efforts include both technical upgrades and strategic interventions based on the committee’s recommendations,” Mbah said.
She added, “The Transmission Company of Nigeria wishes to inform the public that the national grid experienced a disturbance at approximately 11:29 AM this morning, caused by a sudden rise in frequency from 50.33Hz to 51.44Hz.
“Recovery efforts began immediately, and the Abuja Axis was restored within 28 minutes. Recovery is still ongoing. The frequency spike was caused by issues encountered at one of TCN’s substations, which had to be shut down to prevent further complications.”
The statement further explained that the TCN has begun addressing the identified weaknesses in the transmission system in line with recommendations from the investigative panel report submitted on Wednesday, but it may come at a cost.
It added, “Following the submission of the investigative report on the causes of previous grid collapses, we have begun addressing the identified weaknesses in the transmission system. Efforts are being made to close the gaps highlighted in the report and to enhance the overall stability and resilience of the grid.
“TCN is actively engaged in significant repair work on several critical transmission lines and substations. This includes the 330kV transmission line along the Shiroro–Mando axis, major upgrades at the Jebba Transmission Substation, and the restoration of the second Ugwuaji–Apir 330kV transmission line.”
“However, it is important to note that while these repairs and improvements are underway, some degree of instability in the system is likely to persist until all major works are completed.”
The TCN assured the public of its commitment to improving the reliability of the electricity supply, recognising the vital role that stable power plays in Nigeria’s socio-economic development.
“Efforts are being made to close the gaps highlighted in the report, and to enhance the overall stability and resilience of the grid. These efforts include both technical upgrades and strategic interventions based on the committee’s recommendations.
“The company remains committed to improving the reliability of the electricity supply, recognising the vital role that stable power plays in Nigeria’s socio-economic development.
“TCN acknowledges the impact of these disruptions and kindly asks for the understanding and patience of the public during this challenging period.”
“TCN assures the public that all necessary measures are being taken to ensure the grid’s long-term stability, in line with the recommendations of the investigative committee, while also addressing infrastructure damage such as vandalized transmission lines,” the statement concluded.
Meanwhile, the Federal Government said the refusal of electricity distribution companies to offtake power allocated to them is responsible for the incessant grid collapses.
In a statement, the National Orientation Agency disclosed that load rejection by the DisCos contributed to the collapse of the national grid.
The NOA said the TCN has an installed wheeling capacity of over 8,100MW and can comfortably wheel out 6000MW of generated power, saying this was made possible by the facility upgrades done courtesy of the Siemens project as well as TCN’s internal projects.
On the generation side, NOA said with the addition of the 700MW Zungeru hydroelectric plant which came on stream in the second quarter of the year, Nigeria’s national grid now has an installed power generation capacity of about 13,610MW.
“Despite the 13,610MW generation capacity and the over 8,000MW transmission capacity, the total active distribution capacity of the 11 DisCos in Nigeria is still hovering around 4,000MW. Just last month, on September 2nd, a peak generation in three years was achieved but out of the 5,313MW generated and wheeled out that day, the Discos rejected almost 1,400MW due to their systems’ fragility. These load rejections by DisCos contribute to the collapse of the national grid,” the National Orientation Agency declared.
$800m substations
It added that cost recovery is the major challenge of the DisCos, stressing that this has hampered them from upgrading their distribution substations and facilities to accept more power for distribution to their consumers while also discouraging investment in the sector.
However, the agency noted that the President Bola Tinubu administration was tackling this age-long challenge headlong through the Presidential Metering Initiative that aimed at eliminating estimated billings by ensuring every electricity consumer is metered within three years.
It added that the Tinubu administration has committed $800m for the construction of new substations and distribution lines under the Presidential Power Initiative.
“$400m is allocated for the construction of distribution substations for Lot 2 which covers the franchise areas of Benin, Port Harcourt, and Enugu Discos. The other $400m is allocated for the construction of distribution substations and distribution lines for Lot 3 (Abuja, Kaduna, Jos, and Kano Discos).
“The Tinubu administration is also working to decentralise the national grid. With a decentralised grid, it becomes easier to transmit and distribute any power including off-grid powers produced in the states,” the NOA maintained.
20-hour power supply
On Thursday, the Federal Government said it planned to supply Nigerians with at least 20 hours of daily electricity by 2027.
However, it premised the target on sufficient investment in Nigeria’s oil and gas sector, which, it said, was far below expectations.
“By 2027, Nigeria aims to ensure 20 hours of electricity daily for consumers in urban areas and industrial hubs,” a statement by the State House Director of Information and Publicity, Abiodun Oladunjoye, quoted the Special Adviser to the President on Energy, Olu Verheijen, as saying at the Energy Week in Cape Town, South Africa.
The statement is titled, ‘At African Energy Week in Cape Town, Olu Verheijen invites global players to invest in Nigeria’s energy sector.’
Verheijen’s assertions come as the grid collapsed on Tuesday and Thursday, making it the 10 and 11th time it would crash in 2024.
At the Energy Week, Verheijen told participants about efforts by the Tinubu administration to revamp the nation’s power sector, with plans to provide more reliable electricity access for the 86 million Nigerians currently underserved.
She said the scheme aimed to improve revenue assurance and collection.
Meanwhile, widespread power outage affected several states within the franchise area of Jos Electricity Distribution Company, following a loss of supply from the national grid.
JEDC franchise states are Gombe, Bauchi, Benue and Plateau.
According to Dr. Friday Elijah, JEDC Head of Corporate Communications, the outage occurred at approximately 11:28 am on Thursday.
Elijah disclosed this in a statement obtained by our correspondent in Gombe.
“The loss of power supply from the national grid has resulted in the shutdown of all our feeders,” Dr Elijah said. “We understand the inconvenience this has caused our valued customers and assure them that we are working diligently to restore normal power supply as soon as possible.”
Elijah appealed for patience and understanding from affected customers, stating, “We appreciate our customers’ continued trust in our services and are committed to providing reliable power supply.”