Transformer Explosion Caused National Grid Collapse, Says TCN

Peter Uzoho

The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) has confirmed the collapse of the national electricity grid Saturday morning, saying the incident was caused by an explosion on the bus section of a transformer at a 330kV Jebba Transmission Substation.

In a statement sent to THISDAY, in response to an earlier inquiry, TCN’s General Manager, Public Affairs, Mrs Ndidi Mbah, described the incident as a temporary grid disturbance, adding that supply had been fully restored.

THISDAY had reported earlier that Nigeria’s electricity grid suffered another breakdown Saturday morning, the third of such collapses this week, plunging the whole nation into complete darkness.

The grid had suffered two collapses between Monday and Tuesday, similarly throwing Nigerian homes and businesses into blackout.

It was equally reported that the latest system breakdown resulted in power supply across the grid dropping to zero megawatts (MW) with no electricity transmitted to distribution companies (Discos).

But the TCN’s statement reads, “The Transmission Company of Nigeria hereby states that the national grid experienced a temporary disturbance at about 8:15am, today, 19th Oct. 2024.

“According to the report from the NCC (National Control Center), the bus section of a current transformer exploded at 330kV Jebba Transmission Substation and as expected, the protection system was activated, and this promptly opened the busbars to curtail the explosion, thereby preventing outbreak of fire and further damage to adjacent equipment.

“The action of the protection system led to a temporary disturbance on the grid.

“Our engineers at Jebba have successfully carried out switchings, isolating the faulty current transformer. They have equally reconfigured the busbar arrangement, restoring power supply to the station, and other parts of the grid.”

However, earlier situation report had indicated that the grid recorded a partial recovery by 9am, supplying 140MW to the Discos.

Benin Disco has received 50MW, Ibadan Disco 60 MW, and Ikeja Disco 30 MW while Abuja, Kano, and Port Harcourt Discos remained without supply at that time of filing in this report.

According to findings, further efforts to restore the grid saw power generation increase to 220 MW by 10:40 a.m.