Incessant grid collapses: Experts urge more investment in power sector

Some experts in the power sector have called on the Federal Government and stakeholders to invest more in the sector to ensure stability of the grid.

The experts said this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Sunday.

NAN reports that following the incessant grid collapses, the country has experienced several power outages.

It would be recalled that the grid had collapsed on Oct 14 and power was only restored on Oct. 15 and another collapsed also occurred Oct 19, making it the second within a week and the seventh in 2024.

Also on Oct 21, the Northern part of the country was plunged into darkness when the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) lines tripped off due to a fault.

Mr Isreal Abraham, the President, Chartered Institute of Power Engineers (CIPEN) said that power infrastructure needed a lot of maintenance, adding that it was very costly to take care of equipment.

Abraham said that the grid collapses often because there was no constant maintenance both from the generation, distribution and transmission companies.

“The transmission company is doing its best, but more needs to be done and this should be done massively.

“A lot of things need to be put in place and lot of funds are required to upgrade power facilities to the level where we can be sure that things are in the right place.

“For instance, the last collapse was as a result of shattered equipment that helps to manage the grid.

“If that equipment was maintained or replaced, it could not have gotten burnt easily and the possibility of it getting blown and its breaking down would have been avoided, ” he said.

He said that the broken down of the equipment affected other things, which led to a collapse.

Abraham also said that discipline was essential in managing the grid by ensuring that the right things were done.

According to him, the regulator, especially the system operators are to direct the grid managers to do the right thing and this is what is referred to as discipline.

He said that anyone that fails to comply with their directives were to be sanctioned, and this goes for both the generation, transmission and distribution companies.

“All of them are supposed to comply with the instruction of the grid operator. So grid discipline is one of the major things that has to be done, ”he said.

Mr Denis Ukwuez, the Executive Director, CIPEN said that the major cause of non-performance in the power sector was lack of adequate financing.

Ukwuez said that there were projects in the power sector that had been there for more than 20 years and had not been completed.

”We have projects in transmission which have been there for more than 20 years and not completed.

”Some of these power plants are taking over 30 years to be completed because of funding.

He also said that the government was being faced by some challenges which include displacement, compensation that were to be settled, adding that most times, the budget for the sector was too low.

According to him, the adequate knowledge and the adequate power to do the right thing also contributes to the non-performance of the sector.