From Isaac Anumihe, Abuja
The National Grid has collapsed again, making it the sixth in a row this year. This, undoubtedly has thrown Abuja residents and the country into darkness and untold hardship.
Announcing this, yesterday, the General Manager (GM) Public Affairs (TCN), Mrs Ndidi Mbah, said that the national grid experienced a system disturbance about 11.27am on July 20, 2022 as a result of sudden drop in system frequency from 49.94Hz to 47.36Hz, which created system instability.
“According to reports obtained from the National Control Centre (NCC), it (the collapse) was precipitated by the tripping of a unit (with a load of 106 MW) in one of the generating stations due to “Exhaust over Temperature”. This unwholesome event, which pulled out other grid-connected units in the plant, resulted in aggregated generation loss of 457MW. In its wake, a train of events ensued – culminating in the collapse of the national grid” she said.
Mbah explained that in all systems, when a component of the electric power system is defective, the entire configuration is vitiated.
“However, in spite of setbacks encountered at the initial stage, grid restoration had almost been completed as at 11:00pm when this report was filed.
“The Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry appreciates the kind understanding of government and consumers of electricity within and outside the country. We are committed to leveraging the concerted interventions instituted thus far to enhance power supply reliability so that the issue of system collapse will soon become a thing of the past. Meanwhile, a full-scale investigation is being conducted to establish the cause of this failure” the GM, said.
Recall that the last collapse was recorded on June 13, and it also collapsed twice in March and April respectively.
In response to this development, the Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC) said that the collapse occurred at 12:23pm, and the management of the company appealed for its customers’ understanding.
“Dear esteemed customers, please be informed that the current power outage is due to system failure from the national grid. The system collapsed about 12:23pm today, 20 July 22, causing the outage currently being experienced. We appeal for your understanding as all stakeholders are working hard to restore normal supply. Thank you”, the statement read.