Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) said a total
system collapse of the national grid was recorded on Sept. 28 at 8:03
p.m., resulting in temporary loss of electricity generation
for the nation’s power grid.
A statement from TCN’s management on Friday in Abuja
said that reports obtained from power stations and the sequence of events
generated by Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) had revealed
the cause of the collapse.
It said SCADA system report indicated that the system
collapse was triggered by the tripping of Egbin power plants Units ST4, ST6 and
ST5.
It, however, said that restoration of grid system had also
commenced at 8:22 p.m. on Sept. 28.
According to the statement, a post mortem analysis of the
issue indicated that grid generation was curtailed to about 4,262.7 Mega Watts
(MW) before the disturbance.
It explained that capacity under-utilisation and the
operational capability required to maintain grid stability, which had waned,
made the grid system vulnerable.
It said the vulnerability and disturbance of the system
resulted in severe system frequency dip that culminated in the system collapse.
It further revealed that the analysis conducted
clearly showed that there was insufficient level of rotating reserve
provided by grid-connected generation companies arising from low tariffs for
providing ancillary services.
It said TCN had filed an application to Nigerian
Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) for an extraordinary tariff
review to avert further occurrence of such incident.
It said the proposal for a tariff review would ensure that
Generation Companies (GENCOS) were given the necessary incentives to provide
sufficient spinning reserves and other ancillary services critical for
managing the national grid.
“TCN hereby solicits for the understanding of all Nigerians
as it continues with efforts to provide the electricity industry with a world
class national grid.
“It will strive to ensure that the stride attained recently
in frequency control is sustained in line with world industry standards
and codes,“ the statement further stated.
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