The Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, has set up a forensic investigative committee to address the incessant grid collapses.
A statement by the minister’s media aide, Bolaji Tunji, said Adelabu, worried at the disturbance on the national grid which threw some sections of the country into darkness “twice” within the past week, summoned the leadership of the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission and the Transmission company of Nigeria to an emergency meeting at the weekend.
The minister expressed displeasure at the incident, which he said, was “capable of rubbishing the giant strides made in the last one year which has led to an increased generation and distribution of 5, 527 megawatts, a record generation in three years.”
“Adelabu also constituted a forensic investigation committee with a mandate to advise the government on necessary solutions to make the national grid robust and reliable in addition to the ongoing efforts of the government like the Presidential Power Initiatives and the Nigeria Electricity Transmission Project.
The committee is also to establish the root cause of both incidents especially a review of potential sabotage on the system,” the statement read partly.
It was mentioned that the Committee will holistically review the national grid stability and identify investments and technical capacities required to make the grid smart and resilient.
“In addition, a technical team has been deployed to access the critical nodes on the national grid to identify potential vulnerabilities and proffer recommendations to address these vulnerabilities to prevent future disruptions to the grid,” it was noted.
The minister said there was a partial collapse on Monday, October 14, due to a line tripping at the Jebba Transmission Substation and a recurring fault at the Osogbo Transmission Substation.
According to him, efforts to restore the grid further resulted in a setback the following day, saying the System was, however, fully restored on Wednesday, October 16.
“There was no grid collapse on Tuesday as was widely speculated as the setback was a continuation of Monday’s restoration efforts on the grid.
“Also what was described on Saturday, October 19, as grid collapse was a deliberate protective shutdown of the grid as a result of the explosion of the Jebba transformer. And this was restored within two hours. What we had were more grid disturbances than collapses,” Adelabu disclosed.
He added that a preliminary assessment of the Jebba incident suggested that the explosion was as a result of ageing equipment unrelated to the initial collapse.
The six-member committee are the Executive Director, Independent System Operator, Engr Nafisat Ali; the Commissioner, NERC, Dr Chidi Ike; the General Manager, National Control Centre, Engr Ishola; the Director, Transmission, Federal Ministry of Power, Engr. Emmanuel Nosike; the General Manager, Transmission Service Provider, Engr. Ali Sharifai; the Chief Technical Adviser to the Minister of Power, Mr Adedayo Olowoniyi.
The team is expected to present a report to the minister by November 1, 2024.
(PUNCH)