FG to prevent grid collapse

The Federal Government has deployed a new technology as a stop-gap solution to the challenges confronting Nigeria’s power grid, the Transmission Company of Nigeria has said.

Officials of the company said the technology, comprising Internet of Things and the Virtual Private Network, was deployed by the government through TCN to monitor real-time grid operations and help mitigate power system collapse.

It was also gathered that the facility would boost power grid management at the National Control Centre, Osogbo in Osun State, as it would improve real-time operations of the national grid, pending the deployment of a long-term network automation system.

Nigeria’s power grid has recorded a series of collapses this year, throwing many parts of the country in darkness on those occasions.

Power generation on the grid has continued to fluctuate due to various concerns such as gas constraints, water management challenges, and gas pipeline vandalism, among others. But the TCN stated on Wednesday that with its new technology the power grid would receive improved monitoring, as this would help in its management going forward.

The Managing Director, TCN, Sule Abdulaziz, said the company had boosted the digitization of grid operations, as the NCC’s control room was solely responsible for all activities related to grid network data acquisition, real-time grid operations and management for optimal service delivery.