Northern Nigeria is grappling with ongoing power outages as four electricity distribution companies (DISCOS) have been allocated a mere 160 megawatts.
Blackouts persist across 15 states due to ongoing attacks on transmission lines, severely impacting the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry (NESI).
As per the latest data from the national grid, as of 7:30 PM on Wednesday, the allocation is broken down as follows: Yola DisCo received 30MW, Kano DisCo received 20MW, Kaduna DisCo received 50MW, and Jos DisCo received 60MW. In stark contrast, Abuja DisCo leads the load allocation chart with 895MW, followed by Ikeja Electric at 759MW and Eko DisCo at 694MW.
The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) reported significant faults in its 330kV Ugwaji–Apir Double Circuit transmission lines 1 and 2, which have led to forced outages in the North East, North West, and parts of North Central Nigeria.
At around 4:53 AM, the Ugwuaji–Markurdi 330kV Line 2 tripped, causing 243 MW of transferred load to shift to Line 1, which subsequently tripped at 4:58 AM. This series of incidents resulted in a total loss of 468 MW. Attempts to restore power to both lines were unsuccessful, leading to further outages.
To address the situation, TCN quickly dispatched two teams of linesmen to trace the fault along the 215 km route, which includes 245 transmission towers. However, these teams faced challenges due to difficult terrain, including swamps and rivers, as well as security concerns in forested areas.
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The Enugu region’s lines patrol team was unable to conduct their patrols due to a ‘sit-at-home’ directive in the South East on October 21st and 22nd, further complicating efforts to refuel vehicles necessary for the long-distance line tracing. Fortunately, arrangements have been made for security personnel to assist the team as they resume fault tracing this morning.
Currently, while supply has been restored to the 132kV transmission line from New Haven to Apir, the crucial 330kV lines remain non-operational, continuing to disrupt power delivery in the Northern region of the country. Compounding these issues, the Shiroro-Mando transmission line is also down due to security threats, exacerbating the blackout.
TCN has assured the public that it is making every effort to identify and repair the outages and has expressed its sincere apologies to affected states and residents. “We recognize that our patrol teams would have continued their search into the night if not for the challenging terrain. We have regrouped with security operatives and are committed to locating and resolving the cause of the line tripping at the earliest possible opportunity,” a company spokesperson stated.