Nigeria’s Power Grid Collapses for Ninth Time, Plunging Nation into Darkness

The national power grid suffered yet another collapse on Tuesday, 5 November 2024, marking the ninth time this year that millions across Nigeria have faced a complete blackout.

Data from the Nigerian System Operator’s portal (niggrid.org) shows that power generation plummeted to zero megawatts at around 2:00 pm, impacting all 22 active generation companies (GenCos) across the country.

This blackout is yet another setback for Nigeria’s power sector, already struggling with instability, limited capacity, and frequent disruptions to the grid.

The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) has stated that the national grid experienced a partial disturbance at about 1;52 pm today, November 5,2024.

“This followed a series of lines and generators trippings that caused instability of the grid and, consequently, the partial disturbance of the system. The data from the National Control Centre (NCC) revealed that a part of the grid was not affected by the bulk power disruption.

“TCN engineers are already working to quickly restore bulk power supply to the states affected by the partial disturbance. Presently, bulk power supply has been restored to Abuja, at 2.49pm, and we are gradually restoring to other parts of the country.

“We sincerely apologize for every inconvenience this may cause our electricity customers,” the release read.

The first major blackout of the year occurred on February 4, 2024, when the grid’s capacity plummeted from 2,407 megawatts to a mere 31 MW by midday, hitting zero shortly after.

Since then, the grid has continued to falter, with subsequent breakdowns on August 5 and three times in October.

Notably, the October 14 collapse was followed by a partial failure the next day, and another disturbance occurred on October 19, narrowly avoiding a complete collapse.