Grid Collapse: Minister orders immediate implementation of committee’s report

The Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, has ordered the TCN and other relevant agencies of the ministry to begin the immediate implementation of the recommendations of the inter-agency committee on the national grid. Bolaji Tunji, the minister’s media aide, said this in a statement in Abuja on Thursday. Mr Tunji said the committee was set up to address the incessant grid collapses in the power sector. Mr Tunji quoted the minister as saying “all relevant agencies in the ministry must brace up for the immediate implementation of the recommendations of the committee.” He said the minister’s matching order followed the Transmission Company of Nigeria’s  (TCN”s) report that the national grid had experienced a disturbance at approximately 11:29 a.m., on Thursday, which was caused by a sudden rise in frequency from 50.33Hz to 51.44Hz.
“The recommendations of the committee are far reaching and will proffer lasting solutions to the incessant power grid collapses that we have embarrassingly witnessed in the country in the immediate and long term,” he said. Mr Bolaji said TCN had assured consumers that efforts were being intensified to ensure uninterrupted power supply to them. According to him, the agency is working to ensure the full and immediate implementation of the recommendations of the committee to save Nigeria from the incessant grid collapse.  The committee recommended the audit and testing of existing equipment and improvement in maintenance of the transmission equipment and lines. It called for significant investments from the government and the private sector. It also recommended the development of a framework and adopting reliability-centred maintenance.
The committee identified critical ongoing projects for speedy completion. The committee also recommended the replacement of aged and obsolete equipment, as well as enhanced SCADA and telecommunication tools. It urged a developing framework to attract private investment across the value chain, deploy IoT devices on generating units, and transmission lines and secure firm gas contracts It also called for the development and implementation of measures to combat vandalism and energy theft, among others. (NAN)