According to reports and figures from the Transmission Company of Nigerian (TCN), power generation dropped significantly from 3,225.5 megawatts (MW) on April 25 to 113.6 MW the next day. Incident that was adduced to system collapse caused by frequency constraints on the grid.
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National power grid collapsed twice in April, as the sector is fund starved
The country's power sector has been in abysmal condition for over three decades, and it is greatly affecting business and industrial development.
Nigeria's Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Raji Fashola (SAN)
Also, data from the National Control Centre for the power sector indicated that outages from the two main power lines and a transmission station contributed most to the recent grid collapse.
Within the same month, a similar incident was witnessed on Sunday, April 9. Industry data showed that power generation plunged from 3,069.5MW on April 8, 2017 to 108.7MW on April 9, and also moved up marginally to 240MW the next day. Heavy rainfall at three transmission stations led to load reduction on the grid, and prompted high frequency in the system, a development that triggered the collapse of the electricity grid, according to industry report.
The overall assessment and audit of the country’s power sector by various energy experts and investment firms showed that the sector is grossly infrastructural incapacitated. Some reports noted that the highest power generation level the grid could hold at present is between 4000MW and 5000MW, and any attempt at increasing beyond this point would result in the grid collapse.
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Attempts at facilities upgrade by both the Generating companies and TCN have met investors’ apathy, mainly due to the financial positions of these companies and low returns on investments.
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