The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) has clarified that the recent nationwide blackout was not a national grid collapse. Ndidi Mbah, TCN’s general manager of public affairs, explained that the incident was limited to a line tripping at the Benin-Egbin 330kV isolator.
On Monday, a widespread blackout occurred across the country, with various distribution companies (DisCos) reporting inactive feeders. However, TCN’s data showed that the grid did not collapse, but rather experienced a significant drop in power generation from 3,151 megawatts (MW) to 823.5MW before being restored.
Mbah stated that the incident began with a heavy system surge at 2:47 pm, causing the arcing of the Benin-Egbin 330kV line isolator fingers at the Egbin Transmission Substation switchyard. This led to a tripping at the Egbin Generating Station and a loss of power supply to several areas.
To prevent a larger impact, the Osogbo-lhovbor 330kV line was temporarily opened, cutting off electricity flow. However, the Benin-Egbin 330kV line 1 Circuit Breaker also tripped, affecting supply to Lagos and other regions.
Mbah emphasized that the issue was quickly resolved, and full bulk power supply was restored through the transmission lines at 6:10 pm on Monday. She noted that other areas, including the South Eastern region, North East, and parts of North Central and South West, maintained full power supply throughout the incident.
