The Nigerian electricity grid has suffered 162 collapses from 2013 to date, according to the Association of Power Generation Companies (APGC).
This was disclosed on Thursday by Joy Ogaji, Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of APGC, during a public hearing convened by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) in Abuja to address the recurring grid collapses.
“From the association data taken from 2013 till date, the grid has collapsed 162 times,” Ogaji stated.
The grid collapses have led to significant disruptions in electricity supply across the country, with the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) regularly reporting system failures that result in reduced power distribution to electricity companies.
Just last Saturday, the grid collapsed again, plunging several cities into darkness, a situation that followed another collapse earlier in the week on Tuesday.
Addressing the issue at the public hearing, Ogaji highlighted the frequency fluctuations and instability on the grid. She argued that the current system could not be stabilized by simply using a free governor—a device designed to maintain grid frequency.
“The level of frequency fluctuation and frequency crippling on the grid cannot be cured by a free governor,” Ogaji said.
“Before, the grid code specified or the switch is up to four, but our investigation shows that sometimes the cripple is well over four, even up to ten, which is eating into someone’s generation that could have fetched them money.”
She suggested that implementing both a spinning reserve and the free governor mode simultaneously could help reduce grid volatility, particularly given the impact of industrial operations on grid stability.
“Research shows that about hundreds of steel mills operate on our grid, and we know what steel mills do to frequency,” she added.
Ogaji also revealed that a study conducted by the association found that, since 2013, the grid has not complied with the required grid code frequency of 50 hertz for 95% of the time.
“It has always been out of frequency requirement of the grid,” she said.
The power sector in Nigeria has faced numerous challenges in recent years, including issues with regulatory enforcement, transmission system limitations, gas supply disruptions, and inefficient power sector planning.
Despite efforts to privatize power generation and distribution in 2013, the national grid continues to experience frequent collapses, impacting both residential and industrial power supply.