Nigeria Faces Third National Grid Collapse in One Week, Widespread Blackouts Persist

Nigerians have again been plunged into darkness after the national power grid collapsed for the third time in a week.

The constant power outages have only deepened frustrations across the country, affecting businesses, homes, and essential services that rely on a stable electricity supply.

The latest grid failure occurred early Saturday morning, leaving many states in total blackout. It follows two previous collapses earlier in the week, further straining a fragile power system.

According to data from the Nigerian System Operator’s portal (niggrid.org), the grid hit an alarming zero Megawatts (MW) as of 8:16 AM today.

The report shows that all 22 generation companies (GenCos) were offline at the time of the collapse.

This incident marks the eighth grid failure in 2024, adding to the long-standing challenges Nigeria’s power sector continues to face.

Despite the widespread impact of the blackout, the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) has yet to officially confirm the collapse, leaving the public and key stakeholders in the dark about its cause or potential resolution.

Earlier this year, on February 4, Nigeria experienced its first blackout of 2024 when the national grid failed at around 11:51 AM. The grid, managed by the TCN, dropped from 2,407 MW to just 31 MW by noon and completely shut down by 1 PM.