Nigeria’s power transmission company has declared force majeure on the 132-kilovolt Birnin Kebbi-Niamey transmission line after three transmission towers collapsed, the company said on Friday.
“Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) hereby declares Force Majeure on the 132kV Birnin Kebbi-Niamey Transmission Line following the collapse of three transmission towers,” it said in a statement.
Force majeure is a contractual provision that can release parties from certain obligations when circumstances beyond their control prevent them from fulfilling a contract.
TCN said the line tripped at 5:38 p.m. on Aug. 26, while a trial reclosure at 6:03 p.m. failed after the line tripped again immediately.
Following the incident, TCN said its linesmen conducted a fault-finding patrol and discovered that towers T109, T110 and T111 had collapsed at Chibike village.
The collapse was caused by heavy rain and windstorms in the area, TCN said.
The incident has affected bulk power transmission to Niamey, the capital of Niger, through the line, the company said.
TCN said it had mobilised personnel and resources to the site and was working to rehabilitate the collapsed towers and restore the line to service as soon as possible.
The company apologised for the disruption and assured customers in Niamey that efforts were underway to restore normal power supply.
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