The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) said power infrastructure vandals have brought down tower number 62 along Okpai-Onitsha 330kV double circuit transmission line and consequently reduced the power supply to the national grid by 480MW.
The management of TCN, in a statement to NAN on Tuesday in Abuja said the incident took place at Asaba Uchi, Ndokwa East Local Government and resulted in the reduction of available power to the national grid which will take about two weeks to repair temporarily while it waits for the area to dry after the rainy season to make permanent repairs.
The statement said the construction of a new tower would cost TCN millions of naira which it would have used to build new tower lines.
It said that the vandalized transmission line evacuates power from the Okpai Power Station in Delta to other areas.
TCN explained that on November 10, the Okpai–Onitsha 330KV transmission line tripped and the fault was traced to tower No 62, which was found to have been vandalised.
It added that the vandals cut two of the four legs of the transmission tower which made it hang dangerously.
It said that the cutting was a threat to the transmission grid integrity, adding that total collapse of the tower would bring down other towers along the transmission line route.
TCN said its engineers responded to the incident and mobilised an engineering firm to fix the tower temporarily to avoid total collapse.
It said that TCN would soon energise one of the circuits on the tower to enable it to recommence partial power evacuation from the Okapi Power Station to the national grid.
The statement added that energising the circuit would be completed within two weeks, adding that TCN would construct a new tower to replace the vandalised one.
However, the statement said that due to the swampy site, TCN could only start construction in the dry season when vehicular access was possible.
The management of TCN reassured its customers that it would continue to work towards a robust transmission grid in the country.
It also appealed to its host communities to cooperate in fighting the activities of vandals in Nigeria.
-NAN
