Again, Nigeria’s electricity grid collapses, throws cities into darkness

Nigeria’s electricity grid on Saturday collapsed yet again, throwing several cities into darkness.

The latest collapse is coming months after the national grid collapsed in April.

Confirming the collapse, the Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC) said the grid collapsed around 3:10 p.m. on Saturday affecting the power supply to its franchise areas.

“Dear valued customers, please be informed that the power outage being experienced is due to a system failure from the national grid at 3:10 p.m. 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. Thank you for your understanding,” it said.

The Enugu Electricity Distribution Company PLC (EEDC), in a statement signed by its Head of Corporate Communications, Emeka Ezeh, said: “The EEDC wishes to inform her esteemed customers of a general system collapse which occurred at 15:09 hours today, 6th July, 2024.

“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. Thank you,” it said.

In recent years, the power sector has experienced many challenges in areas of electricity policy enforcement, regulatory uncertainty, gas supply, transmission system constraints, and significant power sector planning shortfalls.

In November 2013, the federal government privatised all power generation and 11 distribution companies, with the FG retaining the ownership of the transmission company. This was to improve efficiency in the sector.

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However, since privatisation, the grid has continued to collapse amid efforts to reposition the power sector.

The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) has yet to officially speak on the issue as of press time Saturday evening. TCN General Manager, Public Affairs, Ndidi Mbah, did not return a phone call as of press time.