By Firdaus Jibril
The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) has attributed recent electricity supply interruptions affecting Ikeja Electric customers to reduced power generation, rejecting the distribution company’s claim that the outages were caused by grid instability.
TCN, in a statement issued on Friday, said the outages recorded on November 3 and 4 were largely linked to gas supply constraints affecting thermal power stations and reduced output from hydroelectric plants.
The company was responding to a public notice issued by Ikeja Electric on November 5, in which several Band A feeder outages were attributed to grid instability and assigned to TCN.
TCN said the explanation was inaccurate, arguing that the Nigerian Independent System Operator (NISO) had not identified the transmission company as responsible for the affected interruptions.
According to TCN, NISO had explained that reduced electricity generation resulted in lower energy allocations to distribution companies, leading to fewer hours of supply and increased load shedding across distribution networks.
TCN maintained that its transmission network could only deliver electricity made available by generation companies and could not transmit energy that had not been generated.
The transmission company also disputed Ikeja Electric’s attribution of the outages, citing records which it said showed that most interruptions were linked to low generation and issues within the distribution company’s network.
TCN said 68 per cent of interruptions recorded across feeders supplying Ikeja Electric on November 1 and 2 were frequency-control load shedding arising from low generation.
It attributed another 26 per cent to Ikeja Electric’s alleged non-compliance with load allocations issued by NISO’s National Control Centre, as well as faults and maintenance on the company’s distribution network.
The remaining six per cent, according to TCN, were linked to its planned maintenance, switching operations or line limitations.
The company further said that of 46 interruptions recorded on the 33kV feeders identified in Ikeja Electric’s notice, 29 resulted from frequency-control load shedding caused by low generation.
Fourteen interruptions were attributed to Ikeja Electric, including nine linked to non-compliance with load allocation and five caused by faults or trips on its network.
The remaining three interruptions, TCN said, resulted from scheduled maintenance on the Ogba-Alimosho line on November 1.
Citing a specific incident, TCN said the Rack Centre feeder was interrupted on November 2 by a cable fault on Ikeja Electric’s network, which the distribution company’s crew subsequently repaired.
It also noted that Ikeja Electric’s own notice assigned some feeders, including MTN, Iju Water Works and Rack Centre, to the distribution company for 33kV faults.
TCN urged Ikeja Electric and other distribution companies to avoid attributing supply interruptions to the transmission network without verified information from NISO.
The company said inaccurate explanations could mislead customers, undermine public confidence and obscure the underlying challenges affecting electricity supply.
It advised electricity consumers to rely on NISO’s official platforms for information on the state of the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry.
TCN, however, expressed sympathy for customers affected by reduced supply hours, adding that it remained committed to transmitting available electricity safely and efficiently while working with NISO, generation companies and distribution companies to improve supply.
