Nigeria’s National Grid Not Collapsed, Says Transmission Company

In a statement released on Tuesday, the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) clarified that the national grid did not collapse on Monday, contrary to reports of a nationwide blackout. The incident, which occurred around 2:47 p.m. on Monday, was caused by arcing on the Benin-Egbin 330kV isolator, leading to line tripping and a loss of power supply to some areas.

The affected regions included the Lagos axis, parts of the South West Region, parts of the North Central, and Abuja. However, other areas such as the South Eastern region, North East, and other parts of North Central and South West had full power supply.

According to the TCN, the line tripping began earlier at 2:47 p.m. on Monday, 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, resulting in the loss of power supply to all of the Egbin Transmission Substation’s outgoing lines.

The situation was quickly rectified, with bulk power restored to the affected areas around 6:10 p.m. on Monday. The TCN emphasized that the incident did not cause a system collapse, and that the grid controller was able to restore full bulk power supply through the transmission lines.

It’s worth noting that the TCN has reported that the country’s grid has collapsed 227 times from 2010 to April 2024. However, in this instance, the company has clarified that the incident was not a system collapse, but rather a localized issue caused by arcing on the Benin-Egbin 330kV isolator.