The Kano Electricity Distribution Company (KEDCO) after several days of blackout restored light to Katsina around few minutes to 9pm on Wednesday, October 30, 2024 contrary to false reports on social media that light will be restored on Saturday and that it will be a very high voltage that may be damaging.
KEDCO had earlier explained that it is attributing the power shortage to disturbances caused at the national grid and vandalism that damaged two towers along the 330kV Shiroro –Kaduna transmission lines 1 and 2, promising to resolve the problem soon.
“According to reports from the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), towers T133 and T136, along with their cables, were found badly damaged at several points. Efforts are ongoing to reclose the lines after tripping”, KEDCO explained.
KEDCO hinted that in order “To mitigate this challenge, we are engaging with necessary stakeholders, including TCN and NERC, to find a lasting solution to facilitate swift rectification of the vandalized Shiroro–Kaduna transmission lines for improved electricity supply”.
KEDCO further informed customers that “Our core investor, Future Energies Africa (FEA), is investing in renewable energy efforts, improving network capacity, and MiniGrid solutions to eliminate absolute reliance on grid supply”
TCN General Manager Public Affairs, Ndidi Mbah explained that vandalism caused the outage, disrupting bulk power supply to the region reiterating that insecurity in the area has hindered swift repairs, delaying restoration of electricity supply.
She said, meanwhile “TCN has been collaborating closely with the Office of the National Security Adviser (NSA) to work with our engineers to access the vandalism site to enable them to effect necessary repairs. This is vital to ensure the safety of lives during the repairs.”