The Nigerian Power Consumers Forum (NPCF) has condemned the recent fire incidents around power transmission infrastructure alleging that external forces were acting to sabotage the nation’s transmission system.
The national grid collapsed some days after the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) celebrated 500 days of relative stability of the grid.
NPCF Convener, Comrade Michael A. Okoh in a statement in Abuja, Okoh called on the Federal Government to bring the saboteurs and perpetrators of the act to book and urged TCN to buffer other substations against further sabotage.
“Nigerians have seen the enormous work done by the current TCN management led by Engr. Sule Ahmed Abdulaziz. For instance, in the history of Nigeria, the TCN for the first time took delivery of over 30 power transformers in 2022 and all were deployed to the site for onward installation. The projects TCN is executing to improve access to bulk electricity cover all the six geopolitical zones too.
“From independent assessment which started last year and up to this year, the Forum was able to confirm the various initiatives TCN deployed to stabilize the grid including the use of the Internet of Things (IoT) and the deployment of the stopgap system as a placeholder for a smart grid system which is in the advanced stage of the procurement process for a robust deployment of a full-scale state-of-the-art Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA)/Energy Management System (EMS).
“But unfortunately, just after the pronouncement on the efforts of TCN on grid stability, the power sector has recorded at least two system collapses in succession, all caused by a fire incident in the Birnin Kebbi transmission substation and line snap along the 330kV Jebba – Kainji transmission line. These have caused nationwide outages which the NPCF believes is to bring the management of TCN into disrepute.
“This is not the first time critical national infrastructures have been sabotaged as cases abound every day of oil theft rupturing pipelines or hacking power transmission towers of which over 20 such cases were reported by TCN in the last 12 months.
“The fire incident at the Birnin Kebbi transmission substation switchyard is more of sabotage on the national grid systems. According to power engineers who have over three decades of experience, believe that technically, there is no way two power transformers separated by a reasonable distance from each other will be engulfed by fire simultaneously’’, he said.
