The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) has announced plans to hold a public hearing to investigate the immediate and remote causes of the frequent grid collapses and outages affecting the country’s electricity supply.
Purpose of the Hearing
In a statement released on Saturday, NERC expressed concern over the increasing incidence of grid disturbances, which have led to significant power outages across several states. The commission emphasized that these outages reverse the progress made in enhancing infrastructure and improving grid stability.
Recent Incident
The statement detailed that a recent outage was triggered by an explosion of a current transformer at the Jebba transmission station at 8:15 a.m., causing a cascade of shutdowns among power plants. Despite this, efforts to restore power were underway, with significant restoration achieved in 33 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) by 1 p.m. on the same day.
Stakeholder Engagement
NERC encouraged stakeholders to participate in the upcoming public hearing, which aims to address the challenges plaguing the national grid. The specific date and venue for the hearing will be announced in national dailies.
Structural Changes
The commission also noted ongoing efforts to unbundle the System Operator function from the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) as part of the provisions of the Electricity Act 2023. This move is expected to foster greater discipline in grid management and optimize infrastructure investment.