Electricity
National grid collapse declined by 76.47% in five years – TCN
The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) has stated that, contrary to popular opinion, the occurrence of national grid collapses has decreased significantly by 76.47% in the past five years.
Spokesperson for the company, Ndidi Mbah, made this disclosure in a circular on Wednesday, May 1, 2024.
According to Mbah, the company experienced a notable decrease in grid disturbances over the recent five-year period, from 2020 to the present.
Specifically, she said the TCN recorded 14 total and six partial grid disturbances, signifying a substantial reduction.
She said this represents a 76.47% decrease in grid disturbances when compared to the previous five years, from 2015 to 2019.
During that period, there were 64 total and 21 partial grid disturbances, amounting to 85 occurrences in total. She added:
- “In recent years, the number of grid disturbances/system collapses has gradually reduced, contrary to popular opinion.
- “Clearly, between 2020 to date (five years), we recorded fourteen total and six partial grid disturbances totaling twenty (20), which represents a 76.47% reduction in grid disturbance, when compared to the previous five years, (2015 to 2019) where we had sixty-four total and twenty-one partial grid disturbances, totaling eighty-five (85) times.
- “This improvement is, however, not unconnected to the continuous effort by the management under Engr. Sule Abdulaziz to strategically expand the grid while harnessing in-house capacities to find solutions to grid stability, pending the deployment of SCADA/EMS.
- “No doubt there is room for improvement, and TCN will continue to work hard to further reduce the number of grid disturbances to the barest minimum,” Mbah said.
What you should know
As of March, the national grid had collapsed at three different times in 2024.
This contributed significantly to electricity disruption across the country, with businesses having to rely on self-servicing generators to run their activities.
Meanwhile, the Nigeria Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), in April, hiked the electricity tariff for ‘Band A’ customers by around 300% to N225/KWh in a bid to attract investment and reduce the electricity subsidy cost on the Federal Government.
Diverse reactions have trailed the move, with some members of the public applauding and others expressing condemnation for the increase.
