The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) said it would hold an investigation public hearing to determine the immediate and remote causes of periodic grid problems.
In a statement issued on Saturday, the commission said it will also investigate widespread disruptions.
The Commission said:
“In pursuit of finding a permanent resolution to the challenges of the national grid, the Commission shall shortly conduct an investigative public hearing to identify immediate and remote causes of recurring incidence of grid disturbances and widespread outages.”
NERC further stated that the date and location of the public hearing “would shortly be announced in the national dailies, and stakeholders are encouraged to participate”.
NERC added:
“The commission notes with concern the recent escalating incidence of grid disturbances often leading to marked outage in several states thus reversing many of the gains recently achieved in reducing infrastructure deficit and improving grid stability.”
“Initial reports on the grid disturbance that occurred this morning indicate that today’s outage was triggered by an explosion of a current transformer at the Jebba transmission station at 0815hrs and associated cascade of power plants shutdown arising from the loss of load.
“However, efforts to restore supply have advanced with power significantly restored, as at 1300hrs, in 33 states and the FCT.
“In line with the provisions of the Electricity Act 2023, the unbundling of the System Operator function (ISO) out of Transmission Company of Nigeria Plc is ongoing with the expectation that an independent SO would engender more discipline in grid management and optimised investment in infrastructure.”
Earlier today, the national electricity grid collapsed for the third time in a week, and the eighth time in 2024.
On February 4, the first nationwide grid failure occurred.
Following that, on March 28, April 15, July 6, and August 5, the national grid failed.
Nigerians endured another outage on October 14 and 15.