Nigeria’s Electricity Grid Collapses; Major Cities Plunges Into Darkness

Nigeria's electricity grid collapsed on Sunday morning, putting several cities, including the nation's capital Abuja, into darkness. Power was, however, restored later in the same day.

The Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC), responsible for the distribution of electricity, announced that the incident took place around 11:00 a.m.

"The Management of Abuja Electricity Distribution Plc (AEDC) wishes to inform its valued customers that the power outage being experienced is a result of a system failure from the national grid at 11:21 hours today, 4th February 2024 which has led to a nationwide power outage," the company said, Premium Times reported.

Kaduna Electric Distribution company also confirmed collapsing of the power grid and said, "loss of bulk power supply in their franchises, covering Kebbi, Sokoto and Zamfara state," as per Peoples Gazette.

The company added, "The management of Kaduna Electric wishes to inform its esteemed customers that it has lost bulk power supply, hence the outage being experienced currently in Kaduna, Sokoto, Zamfara, and Kebbi states."

As per the data shown by the power ministry, the electricity generation on the grid plunged from 2,407 megawatts to 31 megawatts on Sunday before it completely collapsed to zero megawatts, leading to widespread blackouts across the country.

The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) confirmed on Sunday evening that the national electricity grid had been completely restored.

The TCN General Manager of Public Affairs Ndidi Mbah said, "The grid experienced a partial disturbance at about 11:21 hours today with Ibom power islanded, feeding Eket, Ekim, Itu & Uyo transmission substations, during the period of partial disturbance."

"TCN initiated immediate restoration of the affected part of the grid, and presently, the grid is fully restored." She stressed that low power generation has persisted since earlier this month, "exacerbating daily due to the lingering gas constraint," Mbah added.

The TCN General Manager of Public Affairs noted that lingering gas constraints are hampering power generation in the grid.

The incident happened just one month after Nigerians witnessed a nationwide blackout for nearly five hours after the country's electricity grid collapsed.