Adebayo Adelabu has said that the recent experience of nationwide blackout on Thursday, was due to fire outbreak.
Adelabu made this known while addressing the nation. He speaks on the incident that plunged the entire country into darkness.
“At 00:35Hrs this morning,” Adelabu reported, “a fire outbreak, accompanied by an explosion sound, was detected on Kainji/Jebba 330kV line 2 (Cct K2J), affecting the blue phase CVT and Blue phase line Isolator of Kainji/Jebba 330kV line 1. This alarming development resulted in an abrupt drop in frequency, plummeting from 50.29Hz to 49.67Hz at 0:35:06Hrs, along with a significant Jebba generation loss of 356.63MW.”
As the situation unfolded, Adelabu continued, “Kainji’s load began to rapidly decline, going from 451.45 MW at 00:35:07Hrs to zero. By 00:41Hrs, the frequency had deteriorated further, reaching 49.37Hz and ultimately plunging to 48.41Hz, leading to the catastrophic collapse of the entire grid.”
In response to the crisis, Adelabu assured the public that the authorities were actively addressing the issue. “We are diligently working to restore power,” he declared. “The fire has been successfully contained, and more than half of the connections have already been restored. The remaining connections will be brought back online shortly.”
Expressing gratitude to those who responded and expressed concern, Adelabu commended the efforts of the engineering team for their swift response. He emphasized the need to expedite the restoration process. “Let’s complete the restoration work as quickly as possible,” he urged.
Adelabu also explained the deliberate delay in updating the public, stating, “This delay was intentional to prevent panic and to provide accurate updates on the progress of the remedial actions taken so far. Our aim is to ensure that economic and security saboteurs do not take advantage of this situation.”
The nation now watches with bated breath as the Minister of Power and his team work tirelessly to rectify the situation and restore power to the millions affected by this unprecedented blackout.
