National Grid: Power Minister forms 6-member committee to address disturbances
The Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, has established a six-member committee to provide the Federal Government with recommendations for enhancing the robustness and reliability of the national grid.
Bolaji Tunji, Special Adviser for Strategic Communication and Media Relations to the Minister, announced this in a statement in Abuja on Tuesday.
The committee will be led by Nafisat Ali, Executive Director of the Independent System Operator (ISO), and includes members such as Dr. Chidi Ike, Commissioner of the NERC, and Engr. Ishola, General Manager of the National Control Centre (NCC).
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The committee also includes Emmanuel Nosike, Director of Transmission at the Ministry of Power; Ali Sharifai, General Manager of the Transmission Service Provider (TSP); and Adedayo Olowoniyi, Chief Technical Adviser to the Minister of Power.
The Minister stated that the committee members are expected to present their report by November 1.
“The committee will also establish the root causes of both incidents, particularly reviewing the potential for sabotage of the system.
“The committee will conduct a comprehensive review of national grid stability and identify the investments and technical capacities needed to make the grid smart and resilient”.
The minister expressed his displeasure with the incident, noting that it could undermine the significant progress made in the past year.
Mr. Tunji recalled that on October 14, there was a partial collapse of the grid due to the tripping of a line at the Jebba Transmission Substation, along with recurring faults at the Osogbo Transmission Substation.
He noted that efforts to restore the grid faced further setbacks the following day, but the system was fully restored by October 16.
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“There was no grid collapse on Tuesday, as was widely speculated; the setback was a continuation of Monday’s restoration efforts on the grid.
“What was described on October 19 as a grid collapse was actually a deliberate protective shutdown due to the explosion of the Jebba transformer, which was restored within two hours,” he explained.
“What we experienced were more grid disturbances than collapses.
“Preliminary assessments of the Jebba incident suggest that the explosion was caused by aging equipment unrelated to the initial collapse,” he added.
Mr. Tunji emphasized that the committee is an extension of the government’s ongoing efforts, such as the Presidential Power Initiative (PPI) and the Nigeria Electricity Transmission Project (NETAP), to ensure a reliable power supply.
He stated that a technical team has been deployed to assess the critical nodes on the national grid, aiming to identify potential vulnerabilities and provide recommendations to prevent future disruptions.
The minister had also invited the leadership of the Nigeria Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) and the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) to an emergency meeting over the recent grid disturbances.
Proofreading by Uchechi Ojo, Sub-editor at Neptune Prime.
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