The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) on Saturday, October 26, 2024, said that the power outage experienced in some parts of the country is due to the vandalisation of two of its towers (lines 1 and 2).
Located along its 330kV Shiroro-Kaduna transmission lines, TCN’s managing director, Ndidi Mbah said the activities by the vandals damaged parts of both transmission lines.
In a statement issued on Saturday, October 26, 2024, and seen by Daily Patriot, Mrs Mbah said that reports from the Shiroro Regional office of TCN show that the 330kV transmission line 1 tripped first.
This she said was followed shortly by the second line as efforts were ongoing to reclose the first line.
According to her, this has promoted the urgent mobilisation of local vigilantes to patrol the affected lines.
Mrs Mbah said, “This led to the discovery of two damaged towers, towers T133 and tower T 136, with their cables badly damaged at several points.
She added that arrangements are in top gear to deploy the newly procured “emergency restoration system” to the site, pending the reconstruction of the damaged towers.
“TCN has also conducted an aerial survey in collaboration with security operatives, given the area’s vulnerability to banditry, which poses a significant threat to both TCN installations and personnel.
“In the interim, our engineers have implemented a temporary measure to supply bulk power to the Kaduna and Kano regions via the 330kV Kaduna-Jos transmission line,” she said.
Mrs Mbah further said that the vandalised Shiroro-Kaduna 330kV lines 1&2 are vital lines through which bulk power is transmitted to parts of the North West region, with each line capable of carrying 600MW.
“The vandalism of the towers and transmission lines presents a significant challenge to bulk power transmission in that axis.
“We are however committed to re-erecting the towers and restringing the transmission lines to restore bulk power transmission through both 330kV power transmission lines,” she concluded.
