Nigeria’s electricity grid collapsed for the fourth time around Saturday afternoon, throwing the nation into a total blackout.
This is coming as the Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu has described the power sector as a critical factor in economic development.
At 6.07 pm on Saturday, power generation had dipped to just 57 megawatts, a significant fall from the almost 4,000mw recorded earlier at about 8am, according to a THISDAY review of data from the Independent System Operator (ISP), an autonomous arm of the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN).
A statement was still being expected from the TCN last night.
In May, TCN claimed that it had succeeded in reducing grid disturbances and collapses in Nigeria by as much as 76.47 per cent.
The company added that there were 105 incidents between 2015 and April 2024.
A review of available information showed that the power plants contributing to the grid began to shut down from around 2pm, declining to 2,797.16mw.
It further shrank to 1,020.08MW at around 3pm before drastically falling to 0.80MW by 4pm.
Reacting to the incident, some power distributors notified their customers that the system failure was a result of the grid collapse.
The companies, however, stated that they were working with the TCN to restore electricity as soon as possible.
On its part, the Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC) said: “Please be informed that the power outage being experienced is due to a system failure from the national grid at 3:10pm today, affecting the power supply to our franchise areas.
“Rest assured, we are working with the relevant stakeholders to restore power as soon as the grid is stabilised.”
On its part, Kaduna Disco stated: “We regret to inform you that the power outage being experienced in our franchise states is due to system collapse of the national grid.
“The collapse occurred at about 3:10pm, hence the loss of supply on all our outgoing feeders. Power supply shall be restored as soon as the national grid is powered back. Our sincere apologies for any inconvenience.”
In its ‘notice of general system collapse’, the Enugu Electricity Distribution Company PLC (EEDC) informed its customers of a general system failure, which it said occurred at 15:09 hours on Saturday afternoon.
“This has resulted in the loss of supply currently being experienced across the network. Due to this development, all our interface TCN stations are out of supply, and we are unable to provide services to our customers in Abia, Anambra, Ebonyi, Enugu, and Imo states.
“We are on standby awaiting detailed information of the collapse and restoration of supply from the National Control Centre (NCC), Osogbo,” the company said.
However, at about 7pm , THISDAY observed that power was being gradually restored in some parts of Abuja.
Meanwhile, the Lagos State governor, Sanwo-Olu has described the power sector as a critical factor in economic development.
The governor who spoke at the weekend during a visit to the Power House, office of the Minister of Power, Mr. Adebayo Adelabu, added that no development would take place without the sector.
Addressing some of the ministry’s directors who received him, the governor charged them to further improve their performance.
“The power sector is critical for economic turnaround and the development of the country, you must therefore constantly improve on your performance”, a statement by the minister’s spokesman, Bolaji Tunji, quoted him as having said.
Emmanuel Addeh