Taiwo Hassan 
Citing about 105 collapses in national grid in 10 years, including this year alone, eight grid failures, with three being recorded within a week, the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) has expressed concern that regulators of the country’s power sector and grid managers lack the right technical understanding and cannot fix the recurring collapse in the country.
The Director-General of LCCI, Dr. Chinyere Almona, made this known in Lagos recently, saying that the country’s business community was concerned about the frequency of collapse recorded by the national grid, the sole supply source of hydroelectric power nationwide.
Almona explained that, currently, the national grid only generated about 4,500MW of electricity for over 200 million people compared to South Africa, which generates about 50,000MW of electricity to service about 59 million people.
She said: “The Lagos Chamber is deeply concerned about the fre – quency of collapse recorded by the national grid, the sole supply source of hydroelectric power nationwide. “This year alone, we have recorded eight grid failures, with three being recorded within a week.
The worsening performance of the national grid is an issue of concern to the business community. “Reasons for the recent collapses were more about the explosion of transformers, unexpected tripping of power generating stations, and other technical malfunctions.
“Currently, the national grid only generates about 4,500MW of electric – ity for over 200 million people. Meanwhile, South Africa generates about 50,000MW of electricity to service about 59 million people. “What lessons have we learned from past grid collapses and restoration efforts?
“By now, after numerous failures, the national grid managers should have identified the root causes and found lasting solutions. “It is concerning that there appears to be no clear understanding of these causes or lessons learned from the restoration processes.
“After about 105 collapses in 10 years, power sector stakeholders should know what drives these recurring failures and how to prevent them.”
