18 September 2014, Lagos – The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) said some parts of the Abuja metropolis would experience shortage in electricity supplied to them, following the outbreak of fire at one of its transmission facility.
TCN said in a statement that a 60MVA, 132/33KV power transformer and the associated 33KV switchgears at its Apo transmission substation was on Tuesday burnt from a direct lightening strike.
It explained that the affected districts would be Garki, Asokoro, Lugbe, Karu, Keffi and other areas adding that residents at these districts will have to make do with a temporary regime of electricity rationing.
The statement which was signed by TCN’s Assistant General Manager, Public Affairs, Mr. Dave Ifabiyi, noted that the fire started after an explosive sound in the 132/33kV switchyard at about 2.40p.m. adding that it was noticed when the relay room and cable trenches within the control room became smoky.
The statement also noted that the engineers quickly disconnected the substation from the transmission grid to forestall further damage to other equipment while the fire was successfully extinguished by the fire service. It explained that TCN’s quick response engineering team had since been working to isolate the affected 60MVA, 330/123KV power transformer and replaced cables of the 2x45MVA power transformers in the substation, “so that service can be restored through the 2x45MVA and 1x100MVA power transformers not affected by the fire.”
TCN further noted that as soon as the isolation work is completed and the cables replaced, normal transmission of electricity to distribution load centres in Garki, Asokoro, Lugbe, international airport as well as Karu business units will commence.
The company further said prior to the fire incident, the maximum distribution load required by the distribution business units that take supply from the Apo substation was 46MW, thus, their load demand would still be met even with the reduced transmission capability.
TCN expressed regrets on any inconvenience the incident may have caused electricity customers in Abuja. It also commended the prompt response of the city’s fire service.
– This Day