The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) has reported a major power outage affecting the North-East, North-West, and parts of the North-Central regions.
The outage occurred due to a fault in its 330kV transmission lines connecting Ugwaji and Apir.
According to TCN, the incident began at around 4:53 am on Monday when the Ugwuaji–Makurdi Line 2 unexpectedly tripped, disrupting the flow of power.
This fault led to the transfer of 243 megawatts (MW) to Line 1 on the same route. However, at 4:58 am, Line 1 also tripped, causing a complete loss of 468 MW, which plunged the northern regions into a forced power outage.
TCN dispatched two teams of engineers to trace the fault and fix the problem, but despite their best efforts, the cause of the tripping remains unknown.
In a statement released on Tuesday by the company’s General Manager of Public Affairs, Ndidi Mbah, it was revealed that the teams had been facing challenges due to the difficult terrain along the 215 km stretch of the affected transmission line.
The route consists of 245 transmission towers, adding to the complexity of the fault-tracing task.
“Following the tripping incidents, one team was dispatched from the Apir Transmission Sub-region and another from the Enugu transmission region. Both teams have been working tirelessly to trace the fault,” the statement said.
“The Apir team patrolled the entire line, facing obstacles such as navigating the River Benue and other difficult areas, but they have not yet located the fault.”
Efforts to begin fault tracing by the second team from the Enugu region were delayed due to a “sit-at-home” directive issued illegally in the South-East for October 21 and 22, 2024.
This directive not only hindered the team’s movement but also created difficulties in refueling patrol vehicles needed for the long-distance search.
However, arrangements were eventually made for security operatives to escort the team, which has now commenced the patrol.
While the 132kV transmission line from New Haven to Apir has been successfully restored, the 330kV lines remain out of service. This continued outage is significantly affecting power distribution to northern Nigeria, where demand is high.
Additionally, TCN noted that the Shiroro-Mando transmission line is currently offline due to security concerns, compounding the already challenging situation and contributing further to the widespread power outage in the North.
The company has assured the public that it is doing everything within its capacity to locate and resolve the issue.
“We are making every effort to trace the cause of the outage to enable our engineers to repair the fault and restore bulk power supply through both the 330kV lines,” Mbah said.
TCN also apologized for the inconvenience caused to the government and electricity consumers in the affected regions.
The company emphasized that its patrol teams would have continued their search into the night, but the combination of difficult terrain, which includes swamps, rivers, and insecure forest areas, as well as the sit-at-home directive, made this impossible.
However, early the next morning, the teams reconvened with security support and resumed their efforts to locate and fix the fault.
The TCN spokesperson reaffirmed the company’s commitment to restoring power as quickly as possible, assuring the public that updates will be provided as the situation progresses.
