The Transmission Company of Nigeria has refuted claims of national grid collapse this month, noting that there has been no grid collapse in 2025.
In a statement signed by the management of the TCN, the company described reports of the purported recent collapse of the national grid as false and mischievous.
“The Transmission Company of Nigeria hereby notes that the report making the rounds about the occurrence of two National Grid Collapses within the year 2025 is mischievous and misleading to the Nigerian populace.
“We hereby appeal to the general public to disregard this and other inaccurate reports on events and status of the national grid (including records of past events) emanating from unauthorized sources.
“It is pertinent to note that the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry (NES) is regulated by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) and governed by industry documents. The documents reserve for the National Control Centre System Operator or her designated back-up, the National Supplementary Control Centre (SNCC) the exclusive right to provide information to the public about events and status of the grid,” the statement read.
Line tripping on February 12
However, the company noted that there was a case of line tripping on the Omotosho-Ikeja West 330kV transmission, while the Benin-Egbin 330kV line was on a scheduled outage for mechanical line tracing.
He said the tripping resulted in a “cascaded outage”, causing a loss of supply within the Abuja, Lagos, and Osogbo axis. He added that electricity has been restored in these places.
“TCN Management would like to reiterate that there has been no system collapse this year and that on the 12th of February 2025, when the Omotosho-Ikeja West 330kV transmission line tripped, the Benin-Egbin 330kV line was on a scheduled outage for mechanical line tracing.
“The tripping resulted in a cascaded outage, causing loss of supply within Abuja, Lagos, and Osogbo axis. Other parts of the country were, however, fully intact. Meanwhile, the full restoration of bulk power supply to affected areas has since been completed.
“Members of the public and reporters are therefore advised to please shun malicious and unfounded information about the National Grid that does not emanate from the Public Affairs Department of the TCN,” the rest of the statement noted.
What you should know
- Nairametrics reported that the national grid collapsed 12 times in 2024.
- While the generating and distribution subsections have since been privatized, the government still manages power transmission, hence the Transmission Company of Nigeria manages the national grid and substations from which electricity is transmitted to transformers across the country.
- Grid collapses in Nigeria are often due to an imbalance in frequency levels or power supply redundancy.
