The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) has announced a complete shutdown of the national power grid by labour unions as the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress (TUC) commence a nationwide strike. The industrial action, which began on Monday, is in protest against the Federal Government's proposed N60,000 minimum wage.
In a statement issued on Monday morning by TCN spokesperson Ndidi Mbah, the transmission firm confirmed the deliberate shutdown by the workers. The statement, titled "Grid shutdown: Union Deliberately shuts down the National Grid," detailed the events leading to the blackout.
"The Transmission Company of Nigeria hereby informs the general public that the labour union has shut down the national grid, resulting in a blackout nationwide. The national grid shut down occurred at about 2:19am this morning, June 3, 2024," the statement read.
At approximately 1:15am, the Benin Transmission Operator under the Independent System Operations unit of TCN reported that all operators were driven away from the control room, and staff who resisted were beaten, with some sustaining injuries. "Without any form of control or supervision, the Benin Area Control Centre was brought to zero," Mbah explained.
The shutdown affected multiple transmission substations, including Ganmo, Benin, Ayede, Olorunsogo, Akangba, and Osogbo. Additionally, some transmission lines were opened due to the labour union's ongoing activities.
On the power generation side, TCN reported that generating units from various stations were forced to shut down. "The Jebba Generating Station was forced to shut down one of its generating units, while three others in the same substation subsequently shut down on very high frequency. The sudden forced load cuts led to high frequency and system instability, which eventually shut down the national grid at 2:19am," Mbah stated.
Despite the challenges, TCN began grid recovery efforts at around 3:23am, using the Shiroro Substation to attempt to feed transmission lines supplying bulk electricity to the Katampe Transmission Substation. However, the labour union's actions continue to obstruct nationwide grid recovery.
"We will continue to make efforts to recover and stabilize the grid to enable the restoration of normal bulk transmission of electricity to distribution load centres nationwide," TCN assured the public in their statement.
