- Power Grid Collapsed Three Times in Q2 – TCN
Nigeria’s electricity generation system collapsed three times in the second quarter of this year, the latest report from the Transmission Company of Nigeria obtained on Friday in Abuja indicated.
This is, however, considered a significant improvement over the first quarter’s performance when the grid collapsed seven times.
The report showed that the frequency in the collapse of the grid witnessed a 57.14 per cent decrease in the second quarter of 2018 when compared to what was recorded in the first quarter of this year.
The report indicated that in April, the first month in the second quarter, the grid collapsed two times within a period of five days. There was one collapse in June; but no grid collapse was recorded in May.
Electricity generation figures specifically showed that the grid recorded partial collapse on April 12 and 14.
Generated power on the grid dropped from a high of 3,946.5MW on April 11 to as low as 351.3MW on April 12.
Further findings showed that power generation remained in a partially collapsed state as it only moved up marginally from 351.3MW of April 11 to 596MW on April 14.
Electricity on the grid eventually rose to 3,500MW on April 15, before maintaining some level of stability, according to other documents obtained from the System Operator.
The Nigeria Electricity System Operator is an arm of the Transmission Company of Nigeria.
In May, the grid witnessed no collapse, although the quantum of power dropped to as low as 1,928.1MW on May 25.
It was also observed that while total power on the grid was between 2,300MW and 4,600MW for most of the days in May, the highest quantum of electricity that was supplied to the grid by power generating firms in this month was 5,162.4MW.
The grid collapsed once in June, as it dropped from the 3,659.5MW on June 7, to 41.4MW on June 8.
The highest quantum of power generated in June was 4,883.4MW and this was recorded on June 21.
Findings showed that the country’s power generation system collapsed six times in the first eight days of 2018. It also witnessed another collapse on the first day of February this year.
On February 5, 2018, the media reported the collapse of the national electricity grid from a high of 4,699.9MW on January 31, to 219MW on February 1.
Power generation then consistently hovered around 3,900MW for the most part of February and March 2018 as there was no system collapse in March.
Meanwhile, further findings showed that so far in the month of July (first month in third quarter 2018), the grid has not recorded any collapse, whether full or partial.
The highest quantum of power on the grid in July was given as 4,684MW, which was recorded on July 4, while the lowest of 2,399.5MW was recorded on July 2, according to latest documents from the TCN.
The Chief Executive Officer, TCN, Usman Mohammed, had explained that there was a need for adequate investment in order to stabilise the grid, adding that the transmission company, with the support of international financiers, had been investing in its network to boost the grid’s performance.
“There are certain things that need to be put in place for us to have grid stability and one of them is that we need to put in adequate investments,” he said.
