Blackout As National Grid Collapses

Blackout As National Grid Collapses

In a familiar and deeply frustrating turn of events, Nigeria’s national electricity grid collapsed again on Wednesday, underscoring the country’s persistent struggle with unreliable power infrastructure.

Between 11:00 am and 12:00 pm, power generation plummeted from 2,917.83 megawatts (MW) to a mere 1.5 megawatts plunging much of the nation into darkness.

The Nigeria National Grid, via its official X (formerly Twitter) account, confirmed the incident and announced that “system restoration is in progress.

In a follow-up post, it revealed that all Electricity Distribution Companies (DisCos), except Ibadan DisCo, had their load allocations reduced to zero megawatts.

For context, “DisCo load” refers to the amount of electricity each distribution company receives from the grid to supply its customers.

This latest failure is not an isolated incident. Nigeria’s national grid has collapsed at least seven times in 2024 alone, with eleven total collapses recorded throughout the year. These frequent breakdowns have become emblematic of the country’s epileptic power supply, which continues to hamper economic productivity and daily life.

The Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC) issued a statement confirming the outage and attributing it to a sudden loss of supply from the grid at 11:23 am. The company assured customers that it is working with relevant stakeholders to restore electricity once the grid stabilizes:

“Dear Valued Customers, please be informed that the power outage currently being experienced is due to a loss of supply from the national grid… Rest assured, we are working closely with the relevant stakeholders to ensure power is restored once the grid is stabilized.”

Nigeria’s power sector remains plagued by outdated infrastructure, poor maintenance, and insufficient generation capacity.

Despite efforts at reform and privatization, the grid’s fragility continues to trigger nationwide blackouts, forcing many citizens and businesses to rely on costly alternatives like diesel generators or solar installations.