The Transmission Company of Nigeria has faulted Ikeja Electric over its claim that grid instability caused recent power outages affecting some Band A electricity feeders, attributing the disruptions to reduced electricity generation resulting from gas supply constraints and lower hydroelectric output.
In a statement on Friday, TCN described as “inaccurate and misleading” Ikeja Electric’s public notice, which blamed grid instability for outages recorded on November 3 and 4.
The transmission company said the Nigerian Independent System Operator, which determines the causes of disturbances on the national grid, had not linked the outages to any failure of its transmission network.
According to TCN, NISO identified inadequate gas supply to thermal power plants and reduced water inflows into hydroelectric stations as the factors affecting electricity generation and limiting the amount of power available to distribution companies.
TCN explained that its network could only transmit electricity generated and allocated to it, noting that the decline in generation had resulted in fewer supply hours and increased load shedding across distribution networks.
Giving a breakdown of its records for November 1 and 2, the company said 68 per cent of interruptions on feeders supplying Ikeja Electric were caused by “frequency-control load shedding” associated with low power generation.
It attributed another 26 per cent to Ikeja Electric’s failure to comply with allocated load, as well as faults and maintenance activities on its distribution network.
The remaining six per cent involved TCN maintenance, switching operations and transmission line limitations.
On the 46 interruptions recorded on the 33kV feeders identified in Ikeja Electric’s notice, TCN said 29 were linked to low power generation, while 14 resulted from problems on the distribution company’s network.
The transmission company urged electricity distribution companies to obtain verified information from NISO before explaining power disruptions to customers, warning that inaccurate claims could mislead consumers and weaken public confidence in the electricity sector.
