The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) has attributed the collapse of the national grid on Monday to a fire incident, according to Ndidi Mbah, the General Manager of Public Affairs.

The grid collapsed around 2:40 am, marking the second such incident in two months and leaving Nigerians in darkness.

However, TCN reported that the grid has since been restored.

A fire erupted at the Afam power generating station, specifically at the Afam V 330kV bus bar coupler, at 02:41Hrs on April 15, 2024. This led to the tripping of units at Afam III and Afam VI, resulting in a sudden loss of generation capacity.

The incident caused a partial collapse of the grid.

During the disruption, the Ibom Power plant was isolated from the grid but continued to supply parts of the Port Harcourt Region, mitigating some of the effects of the disturbance.

TCN confirmed that the affected section of the grid has been fully restored and stabilized.

Despite the restoration efforts, parts of Nigeria have remained without power since midnight.

“The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) announces the full restoration of the national grid following a fire incident at the Afam power generating station, which caused a partial disturbance of the national grid.

“At 02:41Hrs today, 15th April 2024, a fire erupted at the Afam V 330kV bus bar coupler, leading to units tripping at Afam III and Afam VI. This resulted in a sudden generation loss of 25MW and 305MW, respectively, destabilizing the grid and causing a partial collapse.

“During the incident, the Ibom Power plant was isolated from the grid and was supplying parts of the Port Harcourt Region. This further minimized the effect of the system disturbance. TCN confirms that the affected section of the grid has been fully restored and stabilized,” the statement reads.