The Minister of Power, Mr. Adebayo Adelabu, has established a six-member committee tasked with advising the Federal Government on strategies to enhance the robustness and reliability of the national grid.
This announcement was made by Mr. Bolaji Tunji, the Special Adviser on Strategic Communication and Media Relations to the Minister, in a statement issued in Abuja on Tuesday.
The committee established by the Minister of Power, Mr. Adebayo Adelabu, comprises several key members tasked with enhancing Nigeria’s national grid.
Leading the committee is Mr. Nafisat Ali, Executive Director of the Independent System Operator (ISO). Other members include Dr. Chidi Ike, Commissioner, NERC, Engr. Ishola General Manager. National Control Centre (NCC), Mr Emmanuel Nosike, Director of Transmission, Ministry of Power, Mr Ali Sharifai General Manager, Transmission Service Provider (TSP) and Mr. Adedayo Olowoniyi, Chief Technical Adviser to the Minister of Power.
He said the committee is expected to deliver its report to the minister by November 1.
”The committee is to also establish the root cause of both incidents, especially a review of potential sabotage on the system.
”The committee will holistically review the national grid stability and identify investments and technical capacities required to make the grid smart and resilient.
According to him, the minister expressed displeasure at the incident, which he said, was capable of rubbishing the giant strides made in the last one year.
”There was no grid collapse on Tuesday as was widely speculated as the setback was a continuation of Monday’s restoration efforts on the grid.
”What was described on Oct. 19, as grid collapse, was a deliberate protective shutdown of the grid as a result of the explosion of the Jebba transformer. And this was restored within two hours,” he said.
”What we had were more grid disturbances than collapses.
“Preliminary assessment of the Jebba incident suggested that the explosion was as a result of aging equipment unrelated to the initial collapse, ”he said.
Tunji said that the committee was an addition to the ongoing efforts of the government like the Presidential Power Initiatives (PPI) and the Nigeria Electricity Transmission Project (NETAP) to ensure reliable power supply.
He said that a technical team had also been deployed to access the critical nodes on the national grid, to identify potential vulnerabilities and proffer recommendations to prevent future disruptions.
Over the weekend the minister had invited the leadership of the Nigeria Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) and the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) to an emergency meeting over grid collapses.
