At about 5:29 am the following day , the grid collapsed again, compounding the nation’s energy challenge.
Officials of the Transmission Company of Nigeria who probe such incidents, traced the cause to high voltage level resulting from multiple tripping on the Alaoji-Onitsha transmission line, a power plant that shut down abruptly and a huge energy load rejected by the 11 Distribution Companies .Between 2010 and 2019, Nigerian electricity consumers have had to contend with 206 power grid collapse, nine of which occurred in 2019, records obtained from the System Operator , a section of TCN, indicate.
Investigations further reveal that in 2017, there were 15 total, and nine partial collapses while last year, 12 total collapses were recorded with one partial collapse. TCN on various occasions this year blamed the DisCos’ load rejection for the high frequency of grid collapses in the rainy season. It said once it rains, the DisCos due to their poor networks, shut down many power feeders which denies customers of supply, and that when the grid voltages became too high for lack of consumption, a collapse or frequency disturbance became inevitable.
Daily Trust found that the major constraints of transmission system disturbances, distribution, load rejection and the absence of spinning reserve to quickly stabilize the national grid when a collapse is being sensed are the factors against uninterrupted power supply in the country. Another 330kV line leaves the Onitsha substation through Asaba to Benin City substation. The 330kV Warri to Sapele line joins the Asaba line at Benin substation. These are hubs for about five large power GenCos with over 2,00MW capacity. There is Transcorp Ughelli, Okpai , Sapele GenCo, Sapele NIPP, and the Ihovbor NIPP.
When contacted, the Assistant General Manager at the Onitsha substation, Engr. Mike Anigbo said he was not permitted by the Enugu transmission region to speak but after much pressure, he tersely said: “We have enough energy to serve our customers for 24 hours a day”, without explaining what that meant.
Mr. Uche Okonkwo, a tricycle driver in Onitsha, said apart from common dumpsites around power lines, flood in the swampy terrain of the Niger River could pose a threat.Experts in the electricity industry say the long stretches of the 132KV line could cause transmission losses and low voltage if more load points are connected to that line without a transmission substation or an injection substation.
Joseph Ovie in Okpella said, “The light situation is not completely different from other places with incessant power outage. At times, we get it beyond three hours in the day time and also three hours at night but it is not always regular.” It was the same case of the north-eastern states until TCN commissioned two 330kV transmission substations in Yobe and Maiduguri early 2019. Officials of Yola DisCo said there is more bulk power to supply to customers.
Official records also show that voltage instability occurs at another NIPP transmission line built by the NDPHC. The Ikot Ekpene to Ugwuaji to Apir to Jos line has frequent disturbances, a TCN report shows. To arrest this, the TCN MD, UG Mohammed, said three reactors are being installed in Ikot Ekpene and Jos to stabilize the line.
The breakdown of the fund obtained by this paper indicates that the World Bank is the highest donor with $486 million for a fresh Nigeria Electricity Transmission Project , and $27m for transmission project tagged, North Core. For over four years, the national grid has been left zero and at times 40MW of the spinning reserve to cushion system frequency disturbance before a collapse.
The TCN’s SO records in April 2017 say the DisCos rejected 10,200MW allocation in just one month. In the SO’s daily operational reports and document analyzed for over six months of 2019, Daily Trust reports that over 1,500MW energy is rejected by DisCos daily.The DisCos’ association told this paper that the TCN analog system had caused 5,311 interface disruptions in a DisCo within 18 days of September 2019.
“The DisCos should build new feeders and injection substations to take more supply from existing and new transmission substations,” the letter, which was also sent to, the Presidency, read in part.The Managing Director of TCN, Mr. Usman Gur Mohammed spoke to Daily Trust about efforts to improve the system.
“We need to have a critical investment in lines and substations so that we put N-1 across the country, that will ensure that any equipment that goes out at any point in time will not affect supply on that area,” Mohammed added. ANED referred to the Siemens “Electrification Roadmap for Nigeria” report of May 7, 2019, stating that, “Today, power distribution by the DisCos’ to end-customers is limited by power infeed from TCN.”
He also said some of the GenCos ought to be providing ancillary services like black start. “But this is applied and paid for, so there is little incentive among the generators.”
This can only happen because all the key players in the Power value chain are still micro-managed by Government forces and never the real Private entities as they have portrayed!