Power outage in parts of Abuja as truck rams into TCN transmission tower

There is power outage in parts of the federal capital territory (FCT), following an accident that affected a transmission tower in the area.

The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), in a statement on Tuesday by Ndidi Mbah, its spokesperson, said the incident was caused by a truck which ran into a tower transmitting electricity to the Katampe substation and the GIS central substation.

The TCN, however, said efforts are ongoing to provide an alternative transmission source to restore electricity to the affected areas in Maitama, Wuse, Central Area, and Garki.

“Transmission Company of Nigeria hereby states that it is working assiduously to put in place a bypass from the Katampe Substation to the GIS substation in the Central Area to restore power supply to the area and environs,” the statement reads.

“The current restricted outage situation in parts of Abuja is caused by a truck loaded with gravel that lost control and crashed into TCN’s 132kV transmission tower No 20, supplying bulk electricity to the 100MVA part of the Katampe Substation and 2x60MVA GIS Central Area Substation.

“The incident which occurred at about 2.55 pm this afternoon, brought down the tower but did not record any loss of life. Attempts are being made by TCN engineers to remove the conductors presently lying on the road to ensure ease of movement around the area.

“Presently TCN engineers are at the site of the incident and are already assessing the level of damage and attempting to put in place remedial installation in the form of a temporary by-pass to restore electricity supply to the affected areas.

“Consequent upon the incident, there is a restricted outage in Maitama, Wuse, Central Area, and some parts of Garki.

Meanwhile, as every effort is being made to put in place a remedial source of supply, TCN is assuring affected customers that it will work round the clock to ensure that restoration is quickly achieved, after which it would commence the dismantling and reconstruction of a new transmission tower to replace the damaged one.

“TCN assures that its engineering lines crew are making every effort to restore power supply and notes that supply will be restored as soon as possible.”