Adelabu apologises over northern Nigeria blackout, blames ‘weak’ grid infrastructure

Adelabu apologises over northern Nigeria blackout, blames ‘weak’ grid infrastructure

 Adebayo Adelabu, minister of power, has apologised to
Nigerians in the north over the protracted power outage they have experienced
for days.

 

Speaking on Thursday during a courtesy visit to Abba Yusuf,
governor of Kano, Adelabu blamed the situation on the “weak, obsolete,
dilapidated” infrastructure of the over 50-year-old national grid.

 

On October 21, the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN)
reported a power outage across the northeast, northwest, and parts of
north-central Nigeria after the 330-kilovolt (kV) Ugwaji–Apir double circuit
transmission lines one and two tripped the previous day.

 

In a statement, Ndidi Mbah, the general manager of public
affairs at the TCN, linked the incident to a “fault”.

 

On October 28, Adelabu had said the damaged transmission
line would soon be restored, assuring that customers who experience blackouts
will not be billed by the distribution companies (DisCos).

 

Speaking on the issue during the visit, the minister
described the situation as “very unfortunate” and said the federal government
is making efforts to completely overhaul the infrastructure.

 

He said most of the towers installed long ago are falling
due to weather and climate change, stressing that they require continuous
maintenance.

 

 “This grid requires a
lot of money to maintain,” Adelabu said.

 

“So, what we have now, we will continue to manage it and
prevent frequent disturbances until we are able to overhaul this infrastructure
100 per cent.”

 

Adelabu, enumerating programmes aimed at revamping the
national grid’s structure, said the presidential power initiative (PPI), known
as the Siemens project, is currently ongoing.

 

In addition, he said the TCN’s expansion programme,
supported by the World Bank and the African Development Bank (AfDB), is also
afoot.

 

 “The pilot phase of
the Siemens project had just been concluded and it involved the importation of
10 power transformers as well as 10 power mobile sub-stations,” the minister
said.

 

“Phase one of the Siemens project would soon commence, after
which the grid performance would be better than what is being experienced
presently.

 

“We have also installed and inaugurated all the mobile
sub-stations where they were needed, and that was what contributed to the
stability being witnessed.”

 

Adelabu urged Nigerians to protect the nation’s power
infrastructure from vandals, as repairs are costly.

 

 ‘KANO TO ESTABLISH ELECTRICITY MARKET’

On his part, Yusuf, represented by Shehu Sagagi, his chief
of staff, said the state government would soon establish an electricity market
to attract private sector investment.

 

The governor the 10 megawatts hydropower plant at Tiga and
the six megawatts plant at Chalawa are near completion.

 

To improve power supply, Yusuf said Kano procured 500
transformers when his administration began, distributing them to enhance
electricity distribution.

 

The governor called on President Bola Tinubu to set up an
emergency mini-grid power plant to provide adequate voltage in the state and
diversify generation to reduce dependence on the national grid.

 

Meanwhile, the TCN had said power supply had been
successfully restored to seven northern states through its 330kV Ugwuaji-Apir
transmission line one.

 

The company said with the restoration, the Apir-Lafia 330kV
transmission line two is also operational, enabling power transmission to
Lafia, Makurdi, Jos, Kaduna, Kano, Bauchi, and Gombe states.

Source: Adelabu apologises over northern Nigeria blackout, blames ‘weak’ grid infrastructure

 - NigerianEye

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