National grid didn’t collapse Monday – TCN clarifies

The Transmission Company of Nigeria has clarified that the national grid did not collapse on Monday.

Ndidi Mbah, the General Manager of Public Affairs, disclosed this in a statement on Tuesday.

There were reports that the national grid collapsed on Monday around 2:47 p.m., resulting in a nationwide blackout.

However, TCN explained that what happened was arcing on the Benin-Egbin 330kV isolator, which caused line tripping and a consequent loss of supply to some areas around 2:47 p.m. on Monday.

The affected areas were the Lagos axis, parts of the South West Region, parts of the North Central, and Abuja.

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Meanwhile, other areas, including the South Eastern region, North East, and other parts of North Central and South West, had full power supply.

As an update, TCN said bulk power had been restored in the affected areas around 6:10 p.m. on Monday.

“The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) hereby notes that at about 6:10 p.m. yesterday, 5th August 2024, power supply was restored to areas affected by the arcing on the Benin-Egbin 330kV isolator, which caused line tripping and a consequent loss of supply to some areas. However, contrary to media reports, the incident did not cause a system collapse.

“The line tripping began earlier at about 2:47 p.m. yesterday, with a heavy system surge leading to the arcing of the Benin-Egbin 330kV line isolator fingers at the Egbin Transmission Substation switchyard. This caused tripping at the Egbin Generating Station, leading to the loss of power supply to all of the Egbin Transmission Substation’s outgoing lines.

“This led to an exponential increase in load on the Osogbo-Ihovbor 330kV line 1, with serious arcing of isolator terminals on the Osogbo-Ihovbor 330kV line 1. To prevent the sequence of events from affecting the national grid, the Osogbo-Ihovbor 330kV line was opened to temporarily cut off the flow of electricity on that line.

“At about 2:56 p.m., the Benin-Egbin 330kV line 1 Circuit Breaker also tripped at the Benin Transmission Substation end, resulting in the loss of supply to the Lagos axis, parts of the South West Region, parts of the North Central, and Abuja. Meanwhile, other areas, including the South Eastern region, North East, and other parts of North Central and South West, had full power supply.

“The line tripping was quickly rectified, enabling the grid controller to restore full bulk power supply through the transmission lines at about 6:10 p.m. yesterday,” TCN stated.

This is as a report from TCN stated that the country’s grid has collapsed 227 times from 2010 to April 2024.