There are indications that Nigeria’s frequent electricity system collapse will continue because of 10 deep-seated problems facing the power sector and the inability of the government and other stakeholders to find lasting solutions to them in the short term.

Checks by Vanguard, yesterday, identified the reasons to include obsolete equipment, inadequate gas supply, improper coordination of plants and gas pipelines, lack of operating/spinning reserve and voltage support scheme, lack of reliable Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition, SCADA, vandalism, tripping of critical infrastructure lines, lack of reliable communication facility, lack of visibility on the DISCOs network and corruption.

SCADA is a system used for controlling, monitoring, analyzing and stabilizing power supply.

The checks also indicated that these and other issues would not be eliminated soon because of many reasons, especially the huge costs and time required to put appropriate systems in place.

It was gathered that even if adequate funds were available, government would still need much time to negotiate and place orders to enable foreign manufacturers to produce and ship them to Nigeria, meaning that the frequent system collapse would persist for a long time.

How frequency variation, lack of SCADA, others cause system collapse — PowerUp Nigeria

In an interview with Vanguard, yesterday, Executive Director, PowerUp Nigeria, Adetayo Adegbemle, who confirmed the seriousness of the 10 issues, said: “Many factors culminate in system collapse but these are very negatively impacting. It should be noted that system collapse occurs as a result of frequency variation when the pull from consumer ends is sharply different from what generation can supply.”

“A system collapse is like what happens when you put on your generator in the house, but the load in the house surpasses the capacity that your generator can supply. The system collapse affects the Electricity Generation Companies, GENCOs, as it causes damage to the generating plants.

“It also affects the economy because all economic activities that depend on electricity are shut down or disrupted until the grid is restored, thereby causing losses, both financially and damages to electrical systems. Some manufacturing equipment will not function until there is frequency balance on the grid.”

He added: “There are systems that are supposed to be installed to maintain the grid, and used for grid system planning. The SCADA system is meant to help balance the grid and plan for such occurrences, but unfortunately, we have spent so much funds and time getting this system installed, we are still not sure when this will be completed by the Transmission Company of Nigeria.

“Experts have also been harping on the need to have a spinning reserve to mitigate against such grid collapses. The Spinning Reserve is meant to serve as a buffer in cases of frequency imbalance.

“The power sector should look at pooling resources to complete the installation of the SCADA system and procure spinning reserve to forestall future occurrences.”

Hold TCN responsible for system collapse

Adegbemle accused the Transmission Company of Nigeria, TCN, for many of Nigeria’s system collapses, stressing, “It is also my belief that management of the grid system, in this case, the TCN, should be made responsible for future occurrences. That is why we have engineers and experts leading these key infrastructure in the country.”

Closure of OEMs, disregard for NEMSA affect operations — Olubiyo

Similarly, President of Nigeria Consumer Protection Network, Mr. Kunle Olubiyo, said: “TCN should be blamed for the frequent system collapse in the country. Also, some of the equipment that we have on the network was installed as far back as the 1960s. Equipment gets old over time. The Original Equipment Manufacturers, OEMs, would have closed. So, if we need to do replacement, we go and do what we call fabrication. Sometimes, the fabricated parts suffer corrosion and other problems.

“Also, the Nigerian Electricity Management Services Agency, NEMSA, was established to maintain standards. I presented a paper for the establishment of NEMSA and I can tell you that sometimes the TCN equipment importers, including government agencies flout NEMSA’s rules. They do not always subject some of their equipment to standardization.

“TCN is due for unbundling and privatization into commercial, technical and operational bodies. It is a public sector-driven business model and to us, mentality is not about profit and efficiency. We need to unbundle TCN and address all the issues. We need to do a surgical operation.”

Businesses pay heavily for services they do not enjoy — LCCI

On his part, the President, Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry, LCCI, Mr. Gabriel Idahosa, noted that the frequent system collapses in particular and poor supply in general, have impacted households, businesses and the nation’s economy, stressing “The economy in the first quarter of 2024 was threatened by low productivity growth in agriculture and manufacturing due to insecurity, high cost of production, high inflation, and volatility in the forex market.”

Power sector quests for more investment

He further called for increased injection of funds into the power sector, adding “Our primary concern is seeing businesses pay heavily for services they do not enjoy optimally. It is a grave concern that with a higher power cost, companies still do not have access to the service.

“We advise creating an environment enabling foreign investors to build renewable energy factories in Nigeria to upscale our energy transition and reduce our dependence on the national hydro grid, which has continued to crash at close intervals in recent months.”

TCN declines comment

However, TCN did not respond to Vanguard’s request, yesterday, but the executive director of the Independent System Operator (ISO), a unit under TCN, Nafisat Ali, who noted that the nation recorded 105 cases of grid collapse from 2015 to April 2024, had said: “There should be adequate investment in all types of capacity, as well as appropriate operational decisions so that supply and demand is in balance at any point in time

“To achieve a reliable power system, it is necessary to include a buffer in the supply and demand balance, known as reserves. This allows the actual demand and supply to be kept in balance, even in the face of shocks to the system.”

No economy can make progress without stable power — CPPE

Chief Executive Officer, Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise, Dr Muda Yusuf, said: “The frequent national grid collapse has been a major challenge for businesses, especially as it has significantly diminished the confidence of the investing public. The fact is that no economy can make transformational progress without an effective and reliable power supply that is also affordable. I am using the word affordable within the context of the Nigerian economy because even as a business, you are supposed to pay for power from the revenue or the profit you can generate from the business.

“It is not good at all for the economy. We should have a stable power to sustain the confidence of investors in the economy particularly for those who are in production. Energy is like a lifeblood of productive activities and industrial activities, without it, we cannot make progress with our production activities and if we are not producing as a country, there is no way we can grow wealth sufficiently to support our growing population.

“I think we need more investments in our grid in addition to the decentralization because it has to be a combination of many strategies and many approaches to it. We also have to strengthen the current grid because from the reports we get, the grid is extremely very old and that is why it does not have the power even to transmit and distribute the limited power that we have. The government needs to invest more.” (Vanguard)

•TCN gird

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