Tag: blackout

Blackout Hits Lagos, Abuja, Kano, Others As National Grid Collapses Again

A file photo of a powerline.

 

It is another blackout in Lagos, Abuja, Kano, Katsina and Jigawa States after the national grid collapsed on Friday evening.

At least three Distribution Companies (DISCOs) confirmed the development via their respective social media handles, informing their customers of the situation in their respective domains.

They include Eko Electricity Distribution Company (EKEDC), Abuja Electricity Distribution Plc (AEDC), and Kano Electricity Distribution Company (KEDCO).

While their various updates, they blamed the outage being experienced by consumers in various states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) on a general system collapse that occurred at about 6:30pm and 8:50pm.

READ ALSO: Buhari Signs Bill Extending Retirement Age, Service Period For Teachers By Five Years

“Dear Esteemed Customers, we regret to inform you that a system collapse occurred on the National Grid at 6:30pm, Friday, April 8, 2022,” EKEDC said in a tweet. “Our partners are assessing the extent of the damage to the National Grid and how soon it will be restored, more information will be provided soon.

“We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience this has caused to our customers and we assure you that we are working on a swift resolution.”

AEDC, on its part, sought the understanding of its customers with an assurance that the relevant stakeholders were working to bring the situation under control.

 

In its update to consumers in Kano, Katsina, and Jigawa States, KEDCO apologised for any inconveniences the outage might have caused.

“We write to inform our numerous customers in Kano, Katsina, and Jigawa States that the current power outage is due to a system collapse on the National Grid.

“Which as a result causes the current power outage on our network. We sincerely apologise for any inconveniences this may cause to our customers,” it tweeted.

Despite the government’s effort to improve the power supply, major cities in the country experienced blackouts at least twice in March.

Buhari Apologises To Nigerians Over Fuel Scarcity, Reacts To Blackouts

A file photo taken on February 16, 2022, shows an NNPC retail outlet in Abuja amid the fuel scarcity in the country. Channels TV/ Sodiq Adelakun.

 

President Muhammadu Buhari on Wednesday apologised to Nigerians for the inconvenience caused by the prolonged shortage of petroleum products.

In a statement by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, he said his administration had successfully averted such a problem in its seven years in office.

“The administration knows the fuel shortage has placed a strain on Nigerian citizens and businesses, but relief is on the way. I specially apologise to all sections of the society for this,” said the President.

“The government is working round the clock to attend to this issue. An action plan agreed earlier this month is being implemented to address the scarcity. Working together with the Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria (MOMAN) and the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN), this plan is now bearing fruit.

“Sufficient fuel supply has returned to a handful of states, with the queues at stations falling. In the coming days, we expect this to be the case across the rest of the country. Looking to the longer term, funds are being targeted toward keeping fuel availability affordable for the country.

“The international energy markets have surged drastically in recent months, the government will however ensure that consumers are protected against these price spikes.”

The President revealed that he has received information that some people were not behaving properly at the depots, and among owners of petrol stations.

In this regard, he directed the Ministry of Petroleum Resources, the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), and the entire security apparatus of the nation to take strong action against those responsible.

 

Improved Power

A file photo of a powerline.
A file photo of a powerline.

 

President Buhari also spoke about the issue of power outages witnessed recently in various parts of the country.

“The blackouts seen in the national grid are also being addressed,” he assured Nigerians. “A dip in hydroelectric generation due to seasonal pressures has coincided with technical and supply problems at thermal stations.

“On this, the government is also working tirelessly to resolve the issues at the latter to guarantee sufficient power flows into the national grid.”

As part of emergency measures put in place following a meeting convened with key stakeholders to address the low power generation in the country, the President said the main challenge was identified as being one of low gas power generation, as a result of sabotage of gas pipelines leading to the shutdown of power plants coupled with routine maintenance on other gas power plants.

To recover over 1000MW, he said actions were agreed upon between the players in the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry (NESI) and NNPC.

According to President Buhari, the actions targeted the National Integrated Power Project (NIPP) plants, Niger Delta Power Holding Company (NDPHC), and power plants run under NNPC Joint Ventures, Agip and Shell (NAOC and SPDC).

He explained that progress on the key actions has already ensured the restoration of 375MW to the grid after the pipeline from “Okpai 1” was repaired.

To also ramp up the underutilised capacity of the NDPHC capacity, he said a $50 million gas supply agreement was being finalised to secure the sustainability of up to 800MW of underutilised NIPP assets.

The President assured Nigerians that the government’s attention to these problems would bear fruits very soon.

Blackouts: We Have Recovered The National Grid – Power Minister

A file photo of a powerline.

 

The Minister of Power, Abubakar Aliyu, has said that the national grid, which collapsed a few days ago, has now been recovered.

He disclosed this on Wednesday during a briefing after the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting presided over by the Vice President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo.

Mr Aliyu said several resolutions have emerged from a series of emergency meetings held by the power ministry, where all stakeholders have extensively discussed the issues and resolved all bickering.

READ ALSO: Blackout In Lagos, Abuja, Enugu, Others As National Grid Collapses

The minister, who likened Nigeria’s power challenge to a war situation, further maintained that the country generates up to 8,000 MW.

According to Aliyu, the shortage of gas and maintenance of generators, the fuel situation (which he argued has been addressed by the NNPC), all combined to exacerbate the problem with the national grid.

The power minister equally affirmed that the Federal Executive Council has given approval of N5 billion to open up and expand Lagos/Ogun, to reinforce power supply to that region.

Another Blackout Hits Lagos, Enugu, Others As National Grid Collapses Again

A file photo of a powerline.

 

Electricity consumers in Lagos, Enugu, Ibadan, Anambra, and some other states have yet again been thrown into darkness after the national grid collapsed.

It is the second time the national grid would experience a system collapse in less than two days after an earlier fault was reported.

The Eko Electricity Distribution Company (EKEDC) was one of four of the Distribution Companies (DISCOs) that reported a system collapse on Monday.

Hours later, the company announced that the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) stations have been restored while power supply to its customers was being restored in phases.

It was, however, a sad day for EKEDC customers on Tuesday when the company took to its Twitter handle to inform them of another system collapse.

READ ALSO: Blackout In Lagos, Abuja, Enugu, Others As National Grid Collapses

“Dear esteemed customers, we would like to inform you of another system collapse on the national grid which occurred at 5:10pm today.

“We are monitoring the situation and will continue to provide updates. Once again, we apologise for the inconvenience,” it said.

Just like EKEDC, the Enugu Electricity Distribution PLC (EEDC) also informed its customers in the south-east region of the country of another system collapse.

This was made public in a statement titled ‘Notice Of Another System Collapse’ signed by EEDC’s Head of Corporate Communications, Emeka Ezeh.

“The Enugu Electricity Distribution PLC (EEDC) wishes to inform her esteemed customers of another system collapse which occurred at 5.10pm this evening, Tuesday, 15th March 2022,” it said. “This is coming barely 24 hours after the grid collapse experienced in the early hours of yesterday, Monday, 14th March 2022.

“As a result of this unfortunate development, all our outgoing feeders are out and supply to our customers in Abia, Anambra, Ebonyi, Enugu, and Imo States has been affected.

“We are currently on standby, awaiting further directive from the National Control Centre (NCC) for restoration of supply.”

In another tweet, the Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company Plc (IBDEC) also assured its customers that it was monitoring the situation.

Blackout In Lagos, Abuja, Enugu, Others As National Grid Collapses

A file photo of a powerline.
A file photo of a powerline.

 

Lagos, Abuja, Enugu, and other cities across the country experienced a blackout on Monday following the collapse of the national grid.

No fewer than four Distribution Companies (DISCOs) confirmed the development via social media, informing their customers of the situation in their respective domains.

They blamed the outage being experienced by consumers in various states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) on a general system collapse that occurred at about 10:40am.

In a statement by its Head of Corporate Communications, Emeka Ezeh, the Enugu Electricity Distribution Plc (EEDC) said it was on standby and awaiting a signal from the National Control Centre (NCC) for restoration of supply.

READ ALSO: ‘A Serial Betrayer’: Wike Fires Back At Obaseki, Apologises To Oshiomhole

“The Enugu Electricity Distribution PLC (EEDC) wishes to inform her esteemed customers in the South East of a general system collapse which occurred this morning, Monday, 14th March 2022 at 10:40 am,” Ezeh said.

“This is the reason for the loss of supply currently being experienced across the network. Consequently, all our outgoing feeders are out and supply to our customers in Abia, Anambra, Ebonyi, Enugu, and Imo States are affected by this development.”

On its part, the Eko Electricity Distribution Company (EKEDC) assured its customers that it was following up with the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) to restore power/

“Dear esteemed customer(s), we regret to inform you of a total system collapse on the national grid at 10:40 am today, leading to outages across our network.

“We are closely monitoring the situation with our TCN partners to determine the cause and a timeline for resolution. We sincerely apologise for the inconvenience as we will keep you updated on the situation,” it said.

The Abuja Electricity Distribution Plc (AEDC) and Kaduna Electric also notified their customers about the outage in separate statements.

Read the statements below:

Lebanon In Blackout As Power Stations Run Out Of Fuel

This file photo taken on July 10, 2021, shows the Deir Ammar power station in the northern Lebanese city of Tripoli. Lebanon was plunged into a total blackout today after two main power stations went offline because they ran out of fuel, the state electricity corporation said. Ibrahim CHALHOUB / AFP

 

Lebanon was plunged into a total blackout Saturday after two main power stations went offline because they ran out of fuel, the state electricity corporation said.

The Mediterranean country is battling one of the planet’s worst economic crises since the 1850s, and has in recent months struggled to import enough fuel oil for its power plants.

State electricity in most places is barely available for an hour a day amid rolling power cuts, while the fuel needed to power private back-up generators is also in short supply.

“After the Deir Ammar power station was forced to stop producing power yesterday morning (Friday) due its gasoil reserves running out, the Zahrani plant also stopped this afternoon for the same reason,” Electricite du Liban said in a statement.

This led to the network’s “complete collapse without any possibility of restoring it for the time being”, it said.

READ ALSO: Afghans Flock To Iranian Border, But Few Can Cross

In this file photo taken on June 23, 2021, a technician controls an electric switch board connecting homes to electricity generators in a suburb of Lebanon’s capital Beirut.  Joseph EID / AFP

 

It was the second such complete outage reported by EDL since the start of the month, after a similar incident last Saturday.

A source at the energy ministry told AFP that all was being done “to find a way out of the problem”.

EDL said that a fuel oil shipment was expected to arrive on Saturday evening, and was expected to unload at the beginning of next week.

Restoring electricity is one of the many tough tasks facing Lebanon’s new government, formed last month after 13 months of political wrangling.

Several measures have been launched in a desperate bid to keep the lights on.

Lebanon has reached an agreement towards bringing Jordanian electricity and Egyptian gas into the country via war-torn Syria, while Shiite movement Hezbollah has separately started hydrocarbon deliveries from Iran.

This file photo taken on April 3, 2021, shows a partial view of the damaged Lebanese Electricity Company (EDL) headquarters in the capital Beirut. Anwar AMRO / AFP

 

The state is also bringing in some fuel oil for power stations in exchange for medical services under a swap deal with Iraq.

The international community has long demanded a complete overhaul of Lebanon’s loss-making electricity sector, which has cost the government more than $40 billion since the end of the 1975-1990 civil war.

AFP

Pakistan Suspends Power Plant Staff After Nationwide Blackout

A technician of the private power K-Electric company repairs an electric line at a residential area a day after the country’s power blackout in the Pakistan’s port city of Karachi on January 11, 2021. – (Photo by Asif HASSAN / AFP)

 

Seven staff at one of Pakistan’s biggest power plants have been suspended after a technical fault sparked a massive grid breakdown at the weekend, plunging the entire country into darkness.

The blackout hit all of Pakistan’s major cities, including the capital Islamabad, economic hub Karachi and the second-largest city Lahore, lasting around 18 hours in most areas.

The employees at Guddu thermal power plant in Sindh province were suspended “on account of the negligence of duty”, according to the Central Power Generation Company, which operates the facility.

Guddu plant, built in the 1980s, is one of the country’s largest and generates power from furnace oil and natural gas.

The suspended staff included a manager and six junior employees.

READ ALSO: Pakistan Hit By Nationwide Power Blackout

The blackout, which started shortly before midnight on Saturday, was caused by an engineering fault which tripped the system and caused power plants across the country to shut down.

Pakistan’s electricity supply system is a complex and delicate web, and a problem in one section of the grid can lead to cascading breakdowns countrywide.

There were no reports of disruption at hospitals, however, which often rely on backup generators.

The outage marked Pakistan’s second major power breakdown in less than three years.

In May 2018, power was partially disrupted for more than nine hours, while in 2015 an apparent rebel attack on a key supply line plunged around 80 percent of the country into darkness.

Electricity Workers Suspend Nationwide Strike

 

The National Union of Electricity Employees (NUEE) has suspended its nationwide strike.

General Secretary of the Union, Joe Ajaero, said the action was called off in the early hours of Thursday following a tripartite meeting between the leaders of the union, BPE and the Minister of State for Labour, Festus Keyamo.

The union had earlier commenced the industrial action on Wednesday after a 21-day ultimatum issued to the Minister of Power Saleh Mamman.

READ ALSO: Reps Summon Labour, Power Ministers Over Planned Electricity Workers’ Strike

Eko Electricity Distribution Company (EKEDP) in a tweet on Thursday said following the suspension of the strike by NUEE, they are back to business. They also thanked their customers for their patience while the strike lasted.

“Dear customer, National Union of Electricity Employees (NUEE) has suspended its strike. Our offices & payment channels are open for business. Thank you for your patience & understanding,” the tweet read.

 

Part of the demands of the electricity workers is the call for the settlement of unresolved workers claims after the privatization of the power sector by the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE).

Other unresolved issues are illegal transfer of union properties to power investors and the alleged refusal by some distribution companies (discos) to remit deducted contributory pension of their members of staff to pension managers.

Power Situation: FG Blames Sabotage, Apologises To Nigerians

power supply in NigeriaThe Nigerian government has blamed the prevailing power situation on gas failure as well as sabotage and power infrastructure vandalism.

The government also apologising to Nigerians for the hardship which the situation has imposed on them.

Giving reasons for the near total blackout witnessed across Nigeria in the last few days, the Minister of Information and Culture, Mr Lai Mohammed, told reporters on Friday that efforts were being made to rectify the situation and ensure a gradual improvement in the power situation.

”There will be a decent improvement in the power situation from this weekend, thanks to ongoing remedial efforts that will double the current power supply to 4,000WM.

“Getting back to the 5,074MW all-time high that was reached earlier will take a few more weeks,” he said.

Mr Mohammed said that the routine maintenance by the Nigeria Gas Company had affected the supply of gas to power stations, forcing down power supply from an all-time high of 5,074 MW to about 4,000MW and that a combination of unsavoury incidents further crashed the power supply to about half that figure.

”The Forcados export pipelines vandalism forced oil companies to shut down, making it impossible for them to produce gas.

“Then, workers at the Ikeja Discos, who were protesting the disengagement of some of their colleagues after they failed the company’s competency test, apparently colluded with the National Transmission Station in Osogbo to shut down transmission.

”Finally, the unfortunate strike by the unions at the NNPC, over the restructuring of the Corporation, shut down the Itarogun Power Station, the biggest in the country. Due to these factors, only 13 out of the 24 power stations in the country are currently functioning.

“It is this same kind of unsavoury situation that has affected fuel supply and subjected Nigerians to untold hardship,” the Minister further stated.

He strongly condemned the situation in which some Nigerians, under the guise of the various unions in the oil and gas sector or sheer vandalism, would continuously sabotage the country’s power infrastructure.

”The bitter truth is that for as along as these groups of Nigerians continue to sabotage the power infrastructure, Nigerians cannot enjoy a decent level of power supply,” he stressed.

Mr Mohammed further urged all Nigerians who may be agitating for their rights in whatever form to refrain from any action that would further hurt Nigerians.