Nigerians are once again thrown into widespread darkness as the national power grid collapsed for the third time in just one week, leaving many states in total blackout. This latest failure marks the eighth grid disturbance in 2024, underscoring the persistent instability in the country’s power infrastructure.
The collapse, which occurred early Saturday morning, saw the grid plummet to an unprecedented zero megawatts (MW) by 8:16 a.m., according to data from the Nigerian System Operator’s portal. All 22 generation companies (GenCos) were down at the time of this report, leading to nationwide frustration as businesses and homes were plunged into darkness.
Despite the growing outrage, the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) reacted to the incident by describing it as a “temporary grid disturbance.”
In a statement issued by TCN’s General Manager, Public Affairs, Ndidi Mbah, the company explained that the blackout was caused by an explosion of a current transformer at the 330kV Jebba Transmission Substation, which triggered the grid disturbance.
“The national grid experienced a temporary disturbance at about 8:15 a.m. today, 19th October 2024. The bus section of a current transformer exploded at 330kV Jebba Transmission Substation, and as expected, the protection system was activated, opening the busbars to curtail the explosion and prevent further damage,” Mbah stated.
While TCN confirmed that power had been restored in some regions, many Nigerians continued to experience outages for hours. By 1:00 p.m., power had only been restored in 33 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), leaving millions still without electricity.
Nigerians, already fatigued by the incessant failures, expressed skepticism over TCN’s assurances of a “temporary disturbance.”
The ongoing grid failures have become a recurring nightmare, with many calling for more decisive action to prevent future occurrences. This latest collapse came just days after Power Minister Adebayo Adelabu acknowledged the inevitability of such collapses, citing the deplorable state of Nigeria’s power infrastructure. He emphasized the need for investment and decentralization to prevent the entire nation from being affected by a single grid collapse.
“We all rely on a single national grid today. If there is a disturbance, it affects all 36 states. It shouldn’t be like that,” the minister said earlier in the week. He highlighted the recently signed Electricity Act of 2023 as a step towards allowing state governments and regions to establish their own power grids.
In response to the growing concern, the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) announced plans to hold a public hearing to investigate the recurring grid disturbances. The commission noted that while efforts to restore power were underway, the ongoing issues could undermine recent progress in stabilizing Nigeria’s energy sector.
Nigerians, however, remain skeptical. The frequent power outages have deepened frustrations among citizens, businesses, and industries that depend on a stable power supply to function.
The question on many lips is whether the grid’s persistent collapse will ever be fully resolved or if this will remain a perpetual crisis with only temporary solutions in sight.