Nigeria’s national grid suffers 2 collapses in 24 hours

Nigeria’s national electricity grid experienced two severe collapses within a 24-hour period, plunging the country into widespread darkness and sparking concerns over the stability of its electricity supply.

The incidents have further underscored the persistent challenges facing the nation’s power sector.

The first collapse occurred on Monday evening, October 14, 2024, at around 6:18 p.m., with power generation plunging from 3.87 gigawatts (GW) at 5 p.m. to a total loss of 0.00 GW by 7 p.m. and 8 p.m.

Various power distribution companies confirmed the sudden drop in electricity supply, affecting millions of Nigerians.

However, the situation worsened on Tuesday morning, October 15, 2024, when the grid suffered a second collapse at 9:17 a.m. This led to another sharp reduction in power supply, with 0.00 megawatts (MW) available across all regions by 10 a.m.

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Eko Electricity Distribution Company confirmed the system failure, highlighting the ongoing issues within Nigeria’s power infrastructure.

These repeated collapses have once again drawn attention to the urgent need for reforms in the sector to secure a reliable and stable electricity supply for the nation.

“Dear Valued Customer, kindly be informed that there was a system collapse at 09:17hrs, which has resulted in a loss of power supply across our network.

“We are currently working with our partners and hope for a speedy restoration of the grid. We will keep you updated as soon as the power supply is restored,” the company stated.

The spokesperson for the Transmission Company of Nigeria, Ndidi Mbah, did not respond to messages and calls from our correspondent.

Power supply was distributed across several distribution companies (DisCos), with Abuja allocated 44MW, Benin 35MW, Eko 62MW, Enugu 40MW, Ibadan 85MW, Ikeja 72MW, Jos 10MW, Kaduna 15MW, Kano 20MW, Port Harcourt 23MW, and Yola 11MW.

Speaking to our correspondent about the repeated collapses, the Executive Director of the Electricity Consumer Protection Advocacy Centre, Princewill Okorie, expressed regret that the grid continues to collapse despite the increase in electricity tariffs.

Okorie lamented that unmetered customers would still be charged for the period of the collapse, questioning what the government is doing to prevent such incidents.