Nigeria has been plunged into darkness once again, as the national power grid collapsed for the third time in just one week. The widespread blackout, which occurred early Saturday morning, has left millions without electricity.
The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) has yet to confirm the incident or provide a reason for the collapse, leaving Nigerians in the dark. This marks the eighth grid disturbance in 2024, highlighting the country’s ongoing struggle with reliable electricity supply.
Previously, on February 4, Nigeria experienced its first blackout of the year when the national grid collapsed at approximately 11:51 AM. The TCN-managed grid saw its capacity plummet from 2,407 megawatts to just 31MW by noon, and it completely shut down by 1 PM.
Data from the Nigerian System Operator’s portal (niggrid.org) revealed that the grid recorded an unprecedented zero Megawatts (MW) as of 8:16 am on Saturday. All 22 generation companies (GenCos) are currently offline.
Experts blame insufficient investment in the sector for the frequent grid collapses. According to one official, “The situation is inevitable without sufficient investment.” However, hopes are pinned on the Electricity Act of 2023, which decentralizes power and enables state and local governments to participate in electricity generation, transmission, and distribution.
The Act promotes regional grids, shielding states from nationwide power outages. “If there’s a problem with a particular grid, only the state where it belongs will be affected, not the entire nation,” the official explained.
