For the 12th time this year, Nigeria’s national power grid has collapsed, leaving large parts of the country in darkness.
Revealing the fragility of the nation’s power infrastructure, the latest incident, which occurred at 2:09 pm on Wednesday, disrupted power supply across several states.
Electricity distribution companies (DisCos) confirmed the collapse as Jos Disco’s Head of Corporate Communications, Friday Elijah, acknowledged the grid failure, stating that the outage began around 1:33 pm and affected all feeders under its network.
Similarly, EKEDC described the incident as a “system disturbance” and assured customers of ongoing efforts to restore power.
Many Nigerians took to social media complaining that the frequent disruptions are negatively affecting their daily lives and businesses, with some users stating that power had been unavailable for days even before the latest collapse.
The incident is another chapter in what has been a rough year for Nigeria’s power sector. The national grid has collapsed multiple times in 2024, with disruptions occurring in February, March, April, July, August, October, and November.
October had three grid collapses within a single week, showing how much the system has become fragile.
Experts have revealed several underlying issues, including ageing infrastructure, inadequate investments, and poor management.
Adding to these, the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) recently directed gas producers to halt supplies to power generation companies (GenCos) with outstanding debts.
This decision has further limited electricity generation, as some GenCos reportedly owe over ₦2 trillion in legacy debts to gas producers.
Government and Stakeholder Silence
As of the time of this report, the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) and the Ministry of Power are yet to release official statements addressing the collapse. Efforts to restore power are reportedly underway, with assurances from stakeholders of a resolution in due course.
For many businesses and households, the situation has forced them to rely heavily on alternative sources of power, such as generators, which come at a high financial and environmental cost.
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