Blackout as DisCos report fresh national grid collapse

Electricity distribution companies on Monday, reported loss of power supply to their customers as a result of a fresh collapse of the national grid.

The grid experienced a fresh shutdown, slashing power generation to 64.70 megawatts as of 2:42 am on Monday, as confirmed by officials of some of the DisCos.

According to the latest data from the Independent System Operator (ISO), the grid shortly after the collapse, was generating a meagre 266.50mw of electricity from Okpai, Geregu and Ibom power.

Confirming the collapse in a statement, Jos DisCo said: “The current outage being experienced within our franchise States is a result of loss of power supply from the national grid. The loss of power supply from the national grid occurred in the early hours at about 0242 hours today, Monday, 15th April 2024, hence the loss of power supply on all our feeders.”

The company’s head of Corporate Affairs, Dr Friday Adakole Elijah, expressed hope that the grid will be restored for normal power supply to its esteemed customers.

The Enugu Electricity Distribution Company (EEDC), also confirmed the collapse in a statement titled “NOTICE OF TOTAL SYSTEM COLLAPSE”.

“The Enugu Electricity Distribution Company PLC (EEDC) wishes to inform her esteemed customers of a total system collapse which occurred at 2:41 am today, 15th April 2024.

“This resulted in the loss of supply to all our interface TCN stations. Consequently, we were unable to provide service to our customers in Abia, Anambra, Ebonyi, Enugu, and Imo States.

“However, the situation is gradually being resolved as we received the supply at Awada TCN station, Onitsha, at 7:30 am.

“We are in constant communication with the relevant authorities awaiting the full restoration of supply by the National Control Centre, NCC, Oshogbo. Thank you for your usual understanding and cooperation,”

A statement by Head, of Corporate Communications, EEDC, Emeka Ezeh said.

Fire-Induced Partial Grid Disturbance, Now Restored- TCN

In response, the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), said operations of the national grid had been restored following what it described as “a fire incident at the Afam power generating station, which caused a partial disturbance of the nation’s grid”.

A statement by the General Manager, Public Affairs, TCN, Ndidi Mbah, said during the incident, the Ibom Power plant was isolated from the grid and was supplying parts of the Port Harcourt Region.

“At 02:41Hrs today, 15th April 2024, a fire erupted at the Afam V 330kV bus bar coupler, leading to the tripping of units at Afam III and Afam VI. This resulted in a sudden generation loss of 25MW and 305MW respectively, destabilizing the grid and causing a partial collapse.

“During the incident, the Ibom Power plant was isolated from the grid and was supplying parts of the Port Harcourt Region. This further minimized the effect of the system disturbance. TCN confirms that the affected section of the grid has been fully restored and stabilized.

“TCN reaffirms its commitment to enhancing the resilience and reliability of the national grid and pledges to continue investing in measures aimed at strengthening the grid infrastructure.