Babatunji Wusu –
- TCN reported power outages in northern regions due to faults in the 330kV Ugwaji–Apir transmission lines.
- The outages significantly impacted the North-east, North-west, and North-central areas.
- A total power loss of 468 MW occurred after both lines tripped on Monday morning.
- Fault tracing teams faced challenging terrain and delays due to a ‘sit-at-home’ order.
- TCN has restored some supply via the 132kV line but continues to address issues with the 330kV lines.
- Security operatives are assisting teams in the ongoing fault tracing efforts.
The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) announced on Tuesday that power outages in several northern regions were caused by faults in its 330kV Ugwaji–Apir Double Circuit transmission lines 1 and 2. Ndidi Mbah, TCN’s General Manager for Public Affairs, clarified that the outages primarily affected communities in the North-east, North-west, and parts of North-central Nigeria.
According to Mbah, at approximately 4:53 a.m. on Monday, the Ugwuaji–Markurdi 330kV Line 2 tripped, leading to a transfer of 243 MW to Line 1. Shortly after, at 4:58 a.m., Line 1 also tripped, resulting in a total power loss of 468 MW. Attempts to restore both lines around 5:15 a.m. and 5:17 a.m. were unsuccessful, as they immediately tripped again.
In response to these incidents, TCN dispatched two teams of linesmen: one from the Apir Transmission Sub-region and another from Enugu, to expedite fault tracing along the 215 km route that includes 245 transmission towers. Mbah noted that while the Apir team patrolled the line throughout Monday, they faced challenging terrain but reached as far as the River Benue without identifying the fault. Unfortunately, the Enugu team could not begin their patrol due to a ‘sit-at-home’ order in the South-east on October 21 and 22, which impeded their progress and hindered vehicle refueling.
“Arrangements were made for security operatives to guide the team, who commenced fault tracing this morning,” Mbah added. While TCN has restored supply to the 132kV transmission line from New Haven to Apir, the 330kV lines remain offline, significantly affecting power supply across much of Northern Nigeria. Additionally, the TCN Shiroro-Mando transmission line is also down due to security concerns, further exacerbating the outages in the region.
“TCN is making every effort to trace the cause of the outage to enable our engineers to effect repairs and restore bulk power supply through both lines. We sincerely apologize to the government and electricity consumers in all affected states and recognize that our patrol teams would have continued their search into the night if not for the challenging terrain, which includes swamps, rivers, and insecure forested areas. We reconvened early this morning with security operatives and have continued the fault tracing,” Mbah stated.
