N/East to experience 4-day blackout

The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) has notified electricity Distribution Companies (DisCos) serving the six states in the North East that there will be blackout in the region while some places will witness significant drop in the supply of electricity.

A letter sent to one of the DisCos and signed by TCN’s Regional Operations Manager, Bauchi Region, Engr J.O Joseph, said the reduction in supply is due to the erection of 330kV Turn-In and Turn-Out towers at the new Bauchi 330kV Substation transmission lines.

The notice said the outage which will start on June 10 and end on June 14 will affect the Jos-Bauchi-Gombe 132kV line.

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“With respect to the above subject matter, an outage has been scheduled from 1000hrs of 10th-1700hrs of 14th June, 2025 to enable EPC contractor erect new 330kV Turn-In and turn-Out Towers at the new Bauchi 330kV Substation and cross the existing 132kV Line.

“Note that after a review of the contractor’s schedule, the breakdown is as follows; Jos-Gombe SC Line will be out for the stated duration to enable the erection of new towers for the turn-in and out at the new Bauchi 330kV substation. This means that Damaturu, Molai, Yola and Jalingo will be out of supply while Gombe and Biu substations will be fed through Dadin Kowa Hydro power plant and Baga Road substation will be fed by MEPP.

“Jos-Bauchi-Gombe 132kV line will be out on the 14th for the crossing of the 132kV line. Please, note that this memo supersedes the earlier one,” it said.

DisCos speak

Confirming the development, the Yola Electricity Distribution Company said the power outage would affect parts of Adamawa, Borno, Taraba and Yobe states from 10:00 AM on Tuesday, June 10 to 5:00 PM on Saturday, June 14, 2025.

It said during this time, Damaturu, Molai, Yola, and Jalingo injection substations will be out of supply.

But Biu would be supplied from alternative sources, namely the Dadin Kowa Hydro plant, while Baga Road substation in Maiduguri will be back-fed from MEPP, Nguru, Machina and environs will also be fed through the 33kv Nguru feeder.

On its part, Jos Electricity Distribution (JED) in a statement on its Facebook page said the load shedding would affect its customers in  Gombe and Bauchi states.

It stated that the ongoing load shedding experienced is due to limited power allocation from the TCN and constraint arises from ongoing reconstruction and reinforcement works at the Bauchi Transmission Station on the 330kV Jos-Gombe transmission line, being carried out by TCN.

“Consequently, Gombe is temporarily being supplied through the 132kV Jos-Bauchi-Gombe transmission line and the Dadin-Kowa Hydro Station, which are currently unable to meet the full power demand of the states.

“As a result, the transmission wheeling capacity from the grid to our customers in Bauchi and Gombe states including the Ashaka Cement Plant is significantly reduced, leading to lower power availability and necessitating equitable load shedding across affected areas.

“We understand the inconvenience this situation may cause and assure you that normal power supply will be restored as soon as TCN completes the reconstruction of the affected transmission infrastructure.

“In the meantime, we kindly appeal for your understanding and patience, and also urge all customers to support JED Plc in safeguarding electricity infrastructure, particularly distribution transformers, against vandalism.

“Thank you for your continued support as we assure you of our unwavering commitment to serve you better,” it said.

8 months after 14-day blackout

The situation is coming eight months after 17 states in the North were thrown into blackout in October 2024.

It could be recalled that the TCN had reported power outages in the North East, North West and parts of North Central after 330-kilovolt (kV) Ugwaji–Apir double circuit transmission lines 1 and 2.

A statement via X by its General Manager, Public Affairs, Ndidi Mbah, said the transmission lines tripped around 4:53am “due to a fault”.

“The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) reports that its 330kV Ugwaji–Apir Double Circuit transmission lines 1&2, tripped due to a fault, resulting in a forced power outage affecting the North East, North West and parts of North Central,” the commission said.

“At approximately 4:53 am, the Ugwuaji-Makurdi 330kV Line 2 tripped, and 243 MW on that line was transferred to Line 1 on the same route. At 4:58 am, Line 1 also tripped, resulting in a total loss of 468 MW. By around 5:15 am and 5:17 am, Line 1 and Line 2 were tried, but they all tripped immediately on the same relay indication.”

It took 14 days before the lines could be restored to supply electricity to the affected states.

‘Blackout caused by lack of alternative transmission line to North East’

A retired employee of the TCN, who wishes to remain anonymous as he is a contractor with the company, said the blackout to be witnessed in some parts of the region is due to lack of alternative line to wheel electricity to the region.

“The blackout is the only option the TCN has. It is only the 132kV Jos-Bauchi-Gombe that supplies electricity to the region and if any problem is encountered on the line, then the entire region will be in total blackout except for places where the little places the electricity from hydro dams could reach,” he said.

He added that the federal government has been in talks with the World Bank to fund the double line project for the region but it is yet to materialise.

When contacted on what the TCN is doing to provide an alternative line to the region, Mbah did not respond to calls and text messages sent to her phone number.