The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) has announced plans to investigate the causes of the recurring collapse of the national electricity grid.
NERC in a statement it shared on its official X account on Saturday noted with concern the recent escalating incidence of grid disturbances often leading to marked outage in several states.
It lamented that this has reversed many of the gains recently achieved in reducing infrastructure deficit and improving grid stability.
According to NERC, Initial reports on the grid disturbance that occurred on Saturday morning indicate that the outage was triggered by an explosion of a current transformer at the Jebba transmission station at 08:15am and associated cascade of power plants shutdown arising from the loss of load.
The commission said, however, efforts to restore supply have advanced with power significantly restored as at 1pm in 33 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja.
It said in line with the provisions of the Electricity Act 2023, the unbundling of the System Operator function (ISO) out of the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) Plc is ongoing with the expectation that an independent SO would engender more discipline in grid management and optimised investment in infrastructure.
“In pursuit of finding a permanent resolution to the challenges of the national grid, the commission shall shortly conduct an investigative public hearing with a view to identifying immediate and remote causes of recurring incidence of grid disturbances and widespread outages,” NERC stated.
“The date and venue of the public hearing will shortly be announced in the national dailies and stakeholders are encouraged to participate.”
