Blackout as TCN workers shut down national grid over strike

Nigerians person been plunged into acheronian arsenic the nationalist grid crashed to zero procreation capableness aboriginal this morning. The Nigerian Union of Electricity Employees (NUEE), chiefly workers astatine the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), reportedly deliberately unopen down the grid.

The Guardian gathered that the grid went down betwixt 1 americium and 2 americium today. Initially, the grid dropped to astir 2,805 megawatts astatine 1 am, past plummeted to astir 1,000 MW by 2 am, and further to 28 MW by 3 am, earlier yet reaching zero megawatts by 4 am. Although determination are presently 16 powerfulness plants connected the grid, astir of the state and hydropower plants person gone offline.

NUEE mobilised its members to enforce the onslaught enactment called by the Nigerian Labour Congress and the Trade Union Congress, which began this morning. Despite the powerfulness sector’s privatisation, TCN remains government-controlled and staffed by civilian servants. Each procreation works has astatine slightest 1 TCN office, and during a strike, workers tin unfastened the breakers that offload energy into the grid, thereby shutting down the plants.

Information connected the TCN Independent System Operator’s website, which controls the nationalist grid from Osogbo successful Osun State, showed nary powerfulness connected the grid arsenic of 7 am. Ndidi Mbah, General Manager of Public Affairs astatine TCN, confirmed that the nationalist grid shutdown occurred astatine astir 2:19 am.

“At astir 1:15 americium this morning, the Benin Transmission Operator nether the Independent System Operations portion of TCN reported that each operators were driven distant from the power room. Staff who resisted were beaten, and immoderate were wounded successful the process. Without immoderate signifier of power oregon supervision, the Benin Area Control Center was brought to zero,” she said.

She added that different transmission substations unopen down by the Labour Union see the Ganmo, Benin, Ayede, Olorunsogo, Akangba, and Osogbo substations. Mbah noted that power-generating units from assorted stations were forced to unopen down immoderate of their generating units. The Jebba Generating Station was forced to unopen down 1 of its units, and 3 others successful the aforesaid substation subsequently unopen down owed to precise precocious frequency. The abrupt forced load cuts led to precocious frequence and strategy instability, yet causing the nationalist grid to unopen down astatine 2:19 am.

However, TCN said it commenced grid betterment astatine astir 3:23 am, utilizing the Shiroro Substation to effort to provender the transmission lines supplying bulk energy to the Katampe Transmission Substation, but the Labour Union continues to obstruct grid betterment nationwide.