The Federal Government has revealed that a poor maintenance culture, along with inadequate and aged equipment, among other challenges, are the underlying causes of the recurring collapses of the national grid in recent months.
It also stated that the high voltage of electricity surpassing the capacity of its equipment was the cause of the blackouts on October 14 and 19, 2024.
The chairman of the investigative committee probing the reasons for the grid collapses, Nafisatu Asabe Ali, disclosed this during the presentation of the report at the Ministry Headquarters on Wednesday in Abuja.
This announcement came barely 24 hours after the latest collapse on Tuesday, marking the 10th time the national grid had collapsed in 2024.
According to her, the investigative team found similar challenges affecting all stations during its probe.
She explained that the committee examined the grid collapse incidents of October 14 and 19 and discovered that the shattering of lightning arrestors in the Jebba and Oshogbo transmission stations, as well as the explosion of a CT (current transformer) in Jebba Station, were the causes of both incidents.
She said, “For the event on the 14th, lightning arrestors in Jebba and Oshogbo shattered. The one in Jebba was for the shunt reactor, and this was caused by high voltage. Subsequently, we had the tripping of multiple 330kV lines. It kept going until it became a major issue.
“The remote cause of that is the unavailability of the second reactor in Jebba. Jebba, by the design of the network and sometimes the topology of the network at a particular time, is very prone to high voltage. We had two shunt reactors in Jebba before this event; however, one broke down.
It is faulty, and so the voltage rose to about 400KV, which is beyond the threshold. High voltage degrades equipment insulation.
“If you expose equipment to high voltages for a long time, it degrades the insulation. And, of course, there’s a risk of failure. So, that was the remote cause for that. But the underlying causes are aged equipment. In our findings, we confirmed that Jebba was commissioned in 1968, and some of the equipment was installed alongside the substation. So, aged equipment and maintenance culture are key issues.
“The relaying philosophy needs to be reviewed. The settings, the coordination, and, of course, the underlying cause, which is high voltage in Jebba. Other nodes are prone to high voltage, and Jebba is one of them.”
The committee also listed several factors affecting the management of the grid, including vandalism of power infrastructure, the lack of free governors at power generation plants, uncoordinated maintenance schedules, and inadequate human capacity.
In response, the Minister of Power, Chief Adebayo Adelabu, said the ministry would push for additional funding from the 2024 Supplementary Budget and the 2025 Appropriation Bill to address the financial implications of strategies needed to curb the incessant grid collapses.
He expressed optimism that the frequent collapses of Nigeria’s power grid system could be mitigated with the implementation of far-reaching reforms, stating, “This incessant grid collapse, which is quite unfortunate, is worrisome to me personally as the Honourable Minister of Power overseeing this sector.”
Adelabu added that he would present an amended report to aid his submission to President Tinubu, owing to the financial implications.
He said, “Today’s meeting is to receive a report on the agency committee set up about two and a half weeks ago to reveal the root causes of the incessant grid disturbances we have experienced in the past few months. This is not good for us as a country. It is not good for the power sector. It is not good for the Ministry of Power and other agencies.
“Out of this, there will be an amended report after this meeting, which will help me to submit to Mr. President, because all these have financial implications. And it must be recognised for inclusion in the 2025 budget.
“We will not wait until then for implementation. Whatever we can cover within our 2025 budget now, and even if possible, through a supplementary budget, because it is a national issue and must be addressed.”
The committee also made several recommendations, including the audit and testing of existing equipment, improvement in the maintenance of transmission equipment and lines, installation of harmonic filters by DisCo and GenCo customers, decentralisation of TCN central stores, enforcement of Free Governor Mode of Operation, and removal of ad-hoc taped optic fibre for Optical Ground Wires.
The meeting then proceeded into a closed-door session for further interrogation and possible amendments before final submission to the president for approval and implementation.