….As Geotechnics boss calls for massive investment
By Udeme Akpan, & Obas Esiedesa
THE Transmission Company of Nigeria, TCN has restored 4,051.1 megawatts, MW, to the national grid after a total system collapse recorded last week.
Data obtained from the National System Operator, a semi-autonomous unit in the TCN, indicated that the recovery stood at 1,184.6MW, before rising further to the current level.
Checks by Vanguard further showed that many households and businesses that were thrown into darkness have started to have supply, though fully stable.
Reacting to the development, in an interview with Vanguard, yesterday, the Managing Director/CEO of Geotechnics Services Limited, Dr. Adesina Adedeji, said the government should intensify efforts to source power from many sources.
He said: “The government needs to draw up a guided programme of adding a considerable amount of megawatts to the national grid from all sources e.g. hydro, thermal, solar, etc.”
Adedeji, who called for massive investment in renewables and other sources, said: “Globally, many households, organisations and governments are currently focusing attention on renewables because of the clean energy it provides. It is also targeted at achieving and sustaining a cleaner environment.
‘’Take Germany for example, it produced about 26,000 Megawatts from Solar as of 2006, whereas Nigeria cannot say exactly what it produces.
“Everything is lip service. Until the Federal Government comes up with a guided programme of funding and implementing mixed energy, it will be a tall dream to achieve the required megawatts, whereas it is not rocket science.
‘’The government only needs to put in place people with adequate knowledge and expertise like the saying ‘putting a square peg in a square hole.’ “Therefore, ensuring universal access to affordable electricity by 2030 means investing in clean energy sources such as solar, wind and thermal. Renewables have the capacity to accelerate growth without a negative impact on the environment.
‘’It also has the capacity to impact and improve the nation’s power sector and economy through expansion of the infrastructure.”
TCN had blamed the collapse on a fire incident on Kainji/Jebba 330KV Line 2, adding that the incident is being investigated, with “the view to forestalling future occurrence and invariably further strengthening the grid.”
A statement by TCN General Manager, Public Affairs, Ndidi Mbah, stated that “grid restoration nationwide is in progress and has reached advanced stages, with power supply now available in the West, North-Central, South, East, and a large portion of the northern parts of the country.
“The power supply restoration is a sequel to the total grid collapse, which occurred at about 12.35 am, this morning (yesterday), causing outages nationwide, after over 421 days of consistent grid stability.
“In the course of grid restoration, the process initially suffered a setback; this does not amount to another collapse. In the course of any grid restoration process, challenges may be encountered. This happened today while the grid restoration was in progress, but it was promptly addressed”.
In his X (formerly Twitter) handle, the Minister of Power, Bayo Adelabu, said: “At 00:35Hrs this morning, Fire outbreak with explosion sound was observed on Kainji/Jebba 330KV Line 2 (Cct K2J) blue phase CVT & Blue phase line Isolator of Kainji/Jebba 330KV Line1 was observed burning. This led to sharp drops in frequency from 50.29Hz to 49.67 Hz at 0:35:06Hrs with Jebba generation loss of 356.63MW.” (Vanguard)