Nigeria Suffers Another Blackout As National Grid Collapses Again

Eko Hot Blog reports that Nigeria’s national grid has collapsed to zero megawatts, leading to a total blackout nationwide.

Multiple power distribution companies (DisCos) disclosed the significant development in separate statements on Sunday.

This is the first time the grid has collapsed this year. The grid had collapsed three consecutive times in 2023.

The DisCos blamed the latest blackout across nationwide on the collapse of the grid, managed by the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN).

Data from TCN’s generation trend said the grid collapsed at about 11am on Sunday, leading to a drop in the system’s capacity from 2,407 megawatts (MW) to just 31MW by mid-day, and to zero by 1pm.

The DisCos asked customers to stay calm while the grid is being repaired.

The Abuja Electricity Distribution Plc (AEDC) said it was working with the relevant stakeholders to restore power as soon as possible.

“The management of Abuja Electricity Distribution Plc (AEDC) wishes to inform its valued customers that the power outage being experienced is as a result of a system failure from the national grid at 11:21 hours today, 4th February 2024 which has led to a nationwide power outage,” AEDC said in a statement.

“Be rest assured that we are working with the relevant stakeholders to restore power as soon as the grid is stabilized.”

Similarly, the Kaduna Electricity Distribution Plc (KAEDCO) confirmed the grid collapse, stating that the company lost “bulk power supply” which led to an outage in Kaduna, Sokoto, Zamfara and Kebbi states.

The distribution firm, therefore, said the power supply will be restored as soon as “we receive the same at load centres across our franchise.”

Also confirming the development, the Jos Electricity Distribution Plc assured customers of power supply as soon as the grid is restored back to normalcy.

While the TCN is yet to speak officially on the situation, the electric grid manager recently raised concerns over the gradual decrease in available generation.

TCN attributed the decline to gas constraints to the generating companies, adding that the situation impacted the quantum of bulk power available on the transmission grid, for onward transmission to the distribution load centres nationwide.

The grid collapse comes as Nigerians grumble about the drop in power distribution nationwide in recent weeks.

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