The national grid has collapsed once again on Thursday, plunging the country into widespread darkness.
Reports indicate that this marks the tenth grid collapse in 2024, an unprecedented frequency of such incidents.
Moreover, this is the second system failure in less than two days.
Several electricity distribution companies, including Ikeja Electric and Eko DisCo, confirmed the latest collapse in separate circulars issued on Thursday.
As has been the case with previous collapses, the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) has yet to release a statement addressing the situation.
The last communication from TCN noted efforts to restore the grid, only for it to collapse twice following that announcement.
Ikeja Electric stated:
“Dear Esteemed Customer,
“Please be informed that we experienced a system outage today 07 November 2024 at 11:29Hrs affecting supply within our network.
“Restoration of supply is ongoing in collaboration with our critical stakeholders.
“Kindly bear with us. Signed: Management.”
Similarly, Eko DisCo informed its customers:
“Dear Valued Customer,
“Kindly be informed that at precisely 11.29 hours of today, 7th November 2024, we experienced the simultaneous loss of supply across our network.
“A potential system failure or collapse is suspected.
“We are currently working with our partners as we hope for speedy restoration of the grid.”
Backstory
Nairametrics previously reported in October that Nigeria’s national grid collapsed three times within a month, resulting in a nationwide blackout.
- Several electricity distribution companies (DisCos) confirmed the recent collapse through official circulars.
- In response to the incident, the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) announced that a public hearing would be conducted to investigate the causes of the collapse.
- The Minister of Power acknowledged that grid collapses are inevitable, citing that various factors could lead to the tripping of transmission lines, which in turn results in the failure of the entire system.
- However, Adelabu disclosed that the government is working on measures to reduce the frequency of grid collapses.
Earlier this week, Nairametrics reported two grid collapses occurring within a span of 24 hours.
By October 2024, the grid had experienced eight collapses, significantly disrupting power supply nationwide and pushing businesses to rely on self-powered generators to maintain operations.
To date, the grid has collapsed ten times this year, with multiple failures occurring in a single month.