The national power grid showed signs of stabilization on Monday as electricity generation hovered around 3,000 megawatts (MW) and peaked at 3,707.91MW between 1am and 8pm on the same day following a grid collapse on Sunday.
Reports on Monday revealed a significant drop in power generation to 59.9MW around 12pm on Sunday, coinciding with a nationwide grid collapse.
During this collapse, electricity generation plummeted from 2,658.75MW at 11am to a mere 59.9MW by noon, resulting in widespread blackout across the country as power distributors lost supply from the grid.
The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), a federal government agency responsible for managing the grid, was held accountable by power distribution companies for the collapse.
However, data from TCN on Monday evening indicated a turnaround in the grid’s performance. Power generation increased to 3,157.28MW at 1am and surged to 3,637.03MW around 8.30pm the same day.
Simultaneously, TCN announced the successful upgrade and energization of two transformers at its Benin Transmission Substation and Ihovbor Work Centre, which had been taken offline late last year for upgrade.
A new 100MVA 132/33kV power transformer was completed and energized at the Benin Transmission Substation on Saturday, while another 100MVA power transformer was energized at the Ihovbor Work Centre on January 29, 2024.
The energized transformers are expected to enhance bulk power supply to the Benin Electricity Distribution Company, serving areas such as Egba, Oluku, Ihovbor, and their surroundings. Additionally, the upgraded transformer at the Benin Transmission Substation will increase its capacity from 240MVA to 300MVA.
Prior to the upgrade, the Benin Transmission Substation had two 60MVA, one 80MVA, and one 40MVA 132/33kV Mobitra transformer, all of which were upgraded to 100MVA power transformers. Similarly, Ihovbor had 2x60MVA transformers, one of which was upgraded to 100MVA, raising the capacity at Ihovbor from 120MVA to 160MVA.
These upgrades signify TCN’s commitment to enhancing bulk power transmission nationwide, with support from the World Bank. TCN assured electricity consumers of continued efforts to increase bulk power transmission to distribution companies for onward distribution to users across the country.
