Govt probes frequent outages

[TGD]

 WORRIED by the incessant power failure in the country, the Federal Government has set up a probe panel over the ugly trend.

The panel, which is headed by a retired Director of Electrical Inspectorate, Ministry of Power, F. Olapade, is expected to submit its report in two weeks.

Minister of Power, Prof. Chinedu O. Nebo, in a statement Monday, stated  that government is working vigorously to ensure that normalcy is not only restored within the shortest possible time but also that the strategic plan for mitigating any future deterioration in power supply is comprehensively pursued and implemented.

He noted that average peak power generation for May 2013 was at 4,225 Megawatt, (MW) which is a slight decrease from 4,518 MW recorded in April 2013.

According to Nebo: "It should be stated that the loss of power supply to Bayelsa State on May 17, 2013 was caused by the collapse of a terminal tower following a severe tropical rain storm. However, the ministry and its concerned agency, Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) promptly mobilised a very reputable and competent contractor who has commenced work and effectively restored one of the lines by June 1, 2013.  A permanent restoration of the transmission is expected to be completed by the same contractor in about 40 days.

"Similarly, the recent loss of power to some parts of Kebbi, Sokoto, Zamfara states and Niamey in Niger Republic was also as a result of rain storm leading to the collapse of three units of 330kv towers. The ministry is expediting the restoration of supply by utilising spare towers already available to the TCN. However, due to the impact of the damage on the foundations of the affected towers, the timeline for the full restoration of supply to the affected areas is by this month end."

He said: "In a general sense, deterioration in service delivery also occurred on Friday, May 24, 2013 caused by a cascaded trip on the main 330kV transmission lines in the South West axis of the national grid. With the loss of significant amount of transmission capacity, a total system collapse eventually occurred. Unfortunately, this sad event also coincided with the ongoing repairs taking place at the Ughelli Power plant hence the prolonged delay in restoring the system. The other recent system collapse occurred as a result of system disturbances that led to the tripping of the Egbin power plant resulting in the loss of about 25 of the current generation capacity.

"It is important to mention that such disturbances to the national supply systems usually peak at the commencement of the rainy season across the country.  This is usually a natural phenomenon owing to our geographical peculiarities. The ministry is fully aware of the constraints and limitations of the nation's transmission network but wishes to assure Nigerians that the Transmission Company of Nigeria Plc is repositioned and being funded to meet with the expectations and requirements."



The Guardian