On Friday, October 18, parts of Kano and Kaduna states experienced a blackout because vandals damaged two towers belonging to the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN).
Ndidi Mbah, a spokesperson for TCN, shared the news in a statement. She explained that the damaged towers, named T133 and T136, are part of the important 330-kilovolt Shiroro-Kaduna lines 1 and 2.
Mbah mentioned that TCN is planning to use a newly acquired emergency restoration system to help fix the situation while the towers are being rebuilt. She added that temporary measures are already in place to help restore power to the region.
In the statement, it was reported, “According to reports from the Shiroro Regional office of TCN, the 330kV transmission line one tripped first, followed shortly by the second.” Local vigilantes were quickly called in to patrol the lines, which led to the discovery of the damaged towers, with cables hurt in several places.
“Arrangements are in top gear to deploy the newly procured ‘emergency restoration system’ to the site, pending the reconstruction of the damaged towers,” Mbah said.
TCN also worked with security teams to conduct an aerial survey of the area since it is known for being vulnerable to banditry, which can threaten TCN installations and staff.
In the meantime, engineers at TCN have implemented a temporary plan to supply power to the Kaduna and Kano regions using the 330kV Kaduna-Jos transmission line.
The damaged Shiroro-Kaduna lines are crucial because they help transmit power to many areas in the Northwest region. Each line can carry up to 600 megawatts of electricity. The destruction of these towers poses a big challenge to delivering power in that area.
“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,” Mbah assured.
This incident occurred just a few days after the national grid experienced a collapse before being restored.
