Oscarline Onwuemenyi
17 November 2015, Sweetcrude, Abuja – The Transmission Company of Nigeria, TCN, on Monday said that Nigeria’s overall power generation has dropped to 3,763.4 megawatts, Mw, from 4,243.4Mw following the vandalism of one of its transmission towers in the eastern supply loop.
In a statement obtained by our correspondent in Abuja, the Company noted that the tower, No. 62, which is along the Okpai-Onitsha 330kV double circuit transmission line and evacuates power generated from the Okpai Power Station in Delta State, was vandalized.
The statement disclosed that the incident, which took place at Asaba Uchi, Ndokwa East Local Government on Tuesday, November 10, has resulted in the reduction of available power to the national grid by about 480Mw.
According to the Ministry of Power, Nigeria’s electricity generation level as at Monday stood at 4,243.4Mw.
TCN said, “At about 4:51am on Tuesday, 10th November, 2015, the Okpai-Onitsha 330kV transmission line tripped and the cause of the tripping was traced to tower No: 62, which had been vandalized. Two of the four legs of the transmission tower were cut by vandals, causing the tower to hang precariously.”
“This poses a major threat to transmission grid integrity as a total collapse of this tower could bring down several other towers along the transmission line route,” TCN added.