National Grid Suffers Another Collapse

National Grid Suffers Another Collapse, Nation Plunged into Darkness

Once again, Nigeria’s national power grid has collapsed, leaving the country facing yet another round of widespread power outages. This latest grid failure marks yet another instance in a series of collapses, with the government continuing to promise a permanent solution to what has become a recurring challenge.

The situation came to light on Saturday, October 19, 2024, when the grid suffered a major disruption, marking the eighth collapse of the year. Notably, three of these failures occurred within a single week, underscoring the urgency of addressing the nation’s power infrastructure issues. Just two days after the October 19 incident, the grid failed once more, exacerbating an already critical situation.

Reports from the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) reveal that, as of 2:35 pm on the day of the latest collapse, none of the country’s power generation companies were producing any megawatts, effectively leaving Nigeria without a single source of electricity. TCN attributed some of the recent disturbances to a fire at the Jebba transmission station, though the specific cause of this latest outage remains unconfirmed by the organization.

The TCN has also noted that grid instability has been a persistent issue, with 105 reported cases of grid failures to date. Ndidi Mbah, TCN’s General Manager of Public Affairs, highlighted a reduction in grid disturbances over the past five years, reporting a 76.47 percent decrease in incidents when compared to the previous five-year period. According to Mbah, from 2020 to the present, the country recorded 14 total and six partial grid disturbances, while the prior five-year period (2015-2019) saw 64 total and 21 partial incidents.

Nigeria’s Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, pointed to outdated infrastructure as a significant factor in the grid’s repeated failures, suggesting that modernization and infrastructural investment are crucial to achieving reliable power. The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) also expressed concern over the rising frequency of grid disturbances, noting that these incidents have disrupted power supplies across numerous states, reversing recent progress in stabilizing the grid and bridging infrastructure gaps.

With no official statement from TCN regarding the specific cause of the latest collapse, uncertainty remains over when the nation’s power supply will be restored and how soon a long-term solution might be implemented.