Saturday’s National Grid Collapse: NERC Points Fingers at Transformer Explosion

The explosion of a transformer at the Jebba Transmission station has been accused by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) for the most recent national grid meltdown.

A nationwide power outage occurred in the small hours of the morning for the third consecutive day.

NERC voiced its alarm over the “reversal of many of the gains recently achieved in reducing infrastructure deficits and improving grid stability” caused by the “escalating incidence of grid disturbances.”

The NERC issued a statement on Saturday, “Initial reports on the grid disturbance that occurred this morning indicate that an explosion of a current transformer at the Jebba transmission station at 0815 hrs triggered today’s outage and an associated cascade of power plants shut down arising from the loss of load.” “However, as of 1300hrs, power has been restored significantly in 33 states and the FCT, indicating that efforts to restore supply have advanced.”

A growing number of grid disturbances have been causing widespread outages in multiple states, which has the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission worried. This has undone much of the progress made in recent months towards upgrading the grid and decreasing infrastructure deficit. Twitter image: pic.twitter.com/1qD1YZIzyg

October 19, 2024—NERC Nigeria (@NERCNG)

 

The National Energy Resources Committee (NERC) has declared its intention to promote “discipline in grid management and optimised investment in infrastructure.”

“The Commission will soon hold an investigative public hearing to identify the immediate and remote causes of recurring incidences of grid disturbances and widespread outages,” it stated, adding that the goal is to find a permanent solution to the problems with the national grid.

“We will shortly announce the date and venue of the public hearing in the national dailies, and we encourage stakeholders to participate.”