…As TCN denies collapse of national grid, says failure caused by line tripping
By Charles Ebi
Nigeria Electricity Regulatory Commission ,NERC, has transferred regulatory oversight of the electricity market in Oyo State to the state’s Electricity Regulatory Commission ,OSERC.
This was announced by NERC in a public notice, stating that the action aligns with the provisions of the Electricity Act of 2023 and the 2023 amendments to the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
NERC explained that the Oyo State government, having fulfilled the legal requirements outlined in the Electricity Act of 2023, notified the commission of its intent to regulate the electricity market within the state, which was subsequently approved.
The order states, “In compliance with the amended Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria ,CFRN, and the Electricity Act 2023 (Amended), the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, NERC, or the Commission, has issued an order to transfer regulatory oversight of the electricity market in Oyo State from the Commission to the Oyo State Electricity Regulatory Commission ,OSERC ”.
“The EA also mandates any state that intends to establish and regulate intrastate electricity markets to deliver a formal notification of its processes and requests NERC to transfer regulatory authority over electricity operations in the state to the State Regulator”.
“Based on this, the Government of Oyo State complied with the conditions precedent in the laws, duly notified NERC and requested for the transfer of regulatory oversight of the intrastate electricity market in Oyo State”.
The transfer order by NERC included several provisions to be fulfilled by the electricity distribution company in charge of Oyo state-
It directed the Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company ,IBEDC, to incorporate a subsidiary, IBEDC SubCo, to take over the responsibilities for the intrastate supply and distribution of electricity in Oyo State from IBEDC.
IBEDC was mandated to complete the incorporation of IBEDC SubCo within 60 days from August 6, 2024. The subsidiary was required to apply for and obtain a license for the intrastate supply and distribution of electricity from OSERC, along with other directives. All transfers specified by this order were to be completed by February 5, 2025.
Since the assenting of the Nigeria Electricity Act into law, states have begun taking advantage of the legislative provision to enact laws to control the electricity market in their state and attract the needed investments to grow the sector.
Ekiti, Ondo and Enugu states have taken pioneering steps in this regard, and it is expected that the NERC will begin issuing regulatory oversight to more states whose domesticated electricity law is in the pipelines.
Meanwhile, the Transmission Company of Nigeria ,TCN, has refuted claims of a national grid collapse on Monday, clarifying that the incident involved only a line tripping at the Benin-Egbin 330kV isolator.
The spokesperson of the company, Ndidi Mbah, made this clarification in a statement on Tuesday in Abuja.
It should be recalled that some media outlets reported yesterday that the national grid collapsed, resulting in a nationwide blackout.
However, Mbah said the arcing on the Benin-Egbin 330kV did not result in the collapse of the grid system but did affect the power supply in some areas of the country.
He stated that the line tripping began around 2:47 p.m. yesterday, caused by a significant system surge that resulted in the arcing of the Benin-Egbin 330kV line isolator fingers at the Egbin Transmission Substation switchyard.
According to him, this issue has been resolved and power supply has been restored to the substation.
“The Transmission Company of Nigeria ,TCN, hereby notes that at about 6:10 pm yesterday, 5th August 2024, power supply was restored to areas that had been affected by the arcing on the Benin-Egbin 330kV isolator which caused lines tripping and consequent loss of supply to some areas. However, contrary to media reports, the incident did not cause a system collapse.
“The lines tripping started earlier at about 2:47 p.m. yesterday, with a heavy system surge that led to the arcing of Benin–Egbin 330kV line isolator fingers at the Egbin Transmission Substation switchyard.
“This resulted in a tripping at the Egbin Generating Station, which caused the loss of power supply to all the Egbin Transmission Substation’s outgoing lines.
“The line tripping was quickly rectified, enabling the grid controller to restore full bulk power supply through the transmission lines at about 6.10 pm yesterday”, he said.
It was widely reported on different media outlets yesterday that the national grid collapsed for the fifth time in 2024.
According to these reports, various distribution companies ,DisCos, said their feeders became inactive, resulting in widespread blackouts across the country.
Moreover, Data from the Transmission Company of Nigeria’s ,TCN’s, generation trend showed that the grid dropped from 3,241 megawatts ,MW, to 1,255MW within the hour. However, TCN said the grid did not collapse.
Nigeria’s electricity sector continues to grapple with the challenges of a fragile national grid, leading to frequent nationwide blackouts.
As of June 2024, the grid has experienced a collapse four different times.
These collapses have significantly contributed to electricity disruptions across the country.
As a result, businesses have been forced to rely on self-servicing generators to maintain their operations.
In November 2013, the federal government privatized all power generation and 11 distribution companies, while retaining ownership of the transmission company.
This move aimed to improve efficiency in the sector.
However, since privatization, the grid has continued to collapse despite ongoing efforts to reposition the power sector.
