THE Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) has disputed Ikeja Electric’s explanation of recent electricity supply interruptions, blaming gas shortages to thermal power plants and declining hydroelectric output for reduced power supply to distribution companies.
TCN described the distribution company’s attribution of outages to grid instability as misleading, arguing that the supply disruptions resulted primarily from inadequate electricity generation rather than failures of the transmission network.
The dispute followed a public notice issued by Ikeja Electric on November 5, in which the company attributed several Band A feeder outages recorded on November 3 and 4 to grid instability and identified TCN as responsible.
In a statement signed by its management on Friday, TCN said Ikeja Electric was not authorised to determine the causes of disturbances on the national grid.
The transmission company cited Section 67 of the Electricity Act 2023, which it said assigns responsibility for investigating and determining grid disturbances to the Nigerian Independent System Operator (NISO).
READ ALSO: FG clears N100bn gas debts to support electricity supply
TCN said NISO’s clarification issued on November 5 identified inadequate gas supply to thermal power plants and reduced hydroelectric generation, resulting from lower reservoir inflows, as the causes of declining electricity generation.
The company explained that lower generation reduced the electricity available for allocation to distribution companies, forcing them to implement load shedding and provide fewer hours of supply to customers.
“TCN can only transmit the energy made available to it and cannot transmit energy that is not generated,” it said.
The transmission company maintained that the outages affecting Ikeja Electric customers were largely consequences of reduced generation and subsequent power allocations, rather than transmission network failures.
TCN attributes majority of outages to low generation
To support its position, TCN presented figures on interruptions affecting feeders supplying Ikeja Electric, attributing 68 percent of the outages to frequency control load shedding caused by inadequate electricity generation.
It blamed another 26 percent on Ikeja Electric’s alleged failure to comply with power allocations issued by NISO’s National Control Centre, alongside faults and maintenance activities on the distribution company’s network.
The remaining six percent, according to TCN, resulted from scheduled maintenance, switching operations and line limitations within its network.
READ ALSO: 4.7m Nigerian electricity customers remain unmetered
It insisted that none of the recorded interruptions resulted from equipment failure or a transmission line trip.
For the 33-kilovolt feeders identified in Ikeja Electric’s notice, TCN said 29 of the 46 interruptions resulted from frequency-control load shedding arising from low generation.
It attributed 14 interruptions to Ikeja Electric, including nine cases of non-compliance with power allocations and five faults or trips on the distribution company’s network.
The remaining three interruptions were linked to scheduled maintenance on the Ogba-Alimosho transmission line.
READ ALSO: FG deploys N729bn bonds to clear electricity sector arrears
TCN also cited the Rack Centre feeder, which it said experienced an interruption on November 2 following a cable fault on Ikeja Electric’s network.
The transmission company said Ikeja Electric’s technical team subsequently repaired the fault.
The disagreement highlights the competing explanations offered by electricity sector operators over persistent supply disruptions, with TCN maintaining that transmission infrastructure should not be blamed for electricity shortages originating from inadequate generation.
