Minista of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, don set up forensic investigative komiti to address di frequent grid kollapses wey dey happen for Nigeria. Dis decision come after two major grid disturbances happen within one week, wey throw some parts of di country into darkness.
Adelabu, who no dey happy with di situation, summon di leadership of Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) and Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) to emergency meeting over di weekend. He express his concern say such disruptions dey undermine di progress made in di past year, including di increased generation and distribution of 5,527 megawatts, di highest recorded in three years.
Di six-member forensic investigation komiti, led by Nafisat Ali, Executive Director of Independent System Operator (ISO), get di mandate to advise di government on necessary solutions to make di national grid robust and reliable. Dey also need to determine di root causes of di recent disturbances, including di possibility of sabotage. Other members of di komiti include Chidi Ike, Commissioner at NERC; Ishola, General Manager of National Control Centre (NCC); Emmanuel Nosike, Director of Transmission at Federal Ministry of Power; Ali Sharifai, General Manager of Transmission Service Provider (TSP); and Adedayo Olowoniyi, Chief Technical Adviser to di Minister of Power.
Di komiti expected to present their report to di minister by November 1, 2024. In addition, a technical team don dey deployed to assess critical points on di grid, identify vulnerabilities, and recommend measures to prevent future disruptions.
Di first grid disturbance happen on Monday, October 14, when a line tripped at di Jebba Transmission Substation, compounded by recurring issues at di Osogbo Substation. Efforts to restore di grid face setbacks di following day, but full power was restored by Wednesday, October 16. Another disruption follow on Saturday, October 19, which was described as a “deliberate protective shutdown” of di grid, triggered by di explosion of a transformer at di Jebba Substation.
Adelabu explain say di explosion was due to ageing equipment and was unrelated to di earlier incident. He also mention say having multiple power grids in each region and state would ensure stability, given di deplorable state of di country’s power infrastructure.
