‘Why national grid collapses’

Idowu Oyebanjo, a power system engineer, has revealed some factors responsible for the national grid collapse in Nigeria.

Oyebanjo disclosed this when highlighting issues affecting effective power supply in Nigeria during an interview on Channels TV’s Politics Today on Monday.

National grid had collapsed twice this year, throwing Nigerians into total darkness.

But during the interview, the energy expert said that Nigeria needed to produce three times its current power generation to meet demand, saying energy waste was one of the contributing factors to national grid collapse.

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Oyebanjo said, “Power grid collapse occurs for too many reasons and these are very complex issues including vandalism. It is very important to state because if a power tower is vandalised, the electric overhead lines come down and then power is disrupted.

“So, vandalism is one of the major causes of grid collapse. There is also the problem of generation and networks and the problem of networks.

“Essentially the power grid collapses if there is an imbalance between generation and consumption. Whenever you have a mismatch between what is generated and what is being consumed, then you have a problem with the frequency. And once the frequency goes below a certain level, then the grid will collapse.

“So many things can cause that. For example, if you have a situation of load rejection that may lead to collapse. If you have a shortage of gas like the one that happened a few days ago the grid can collapse.”