NIGERNAIJAONPOINT are once again plunged into darkness following the third national grid collapse in one week.
The grid failure occurred early this morning, with widespread reports of total blackouts across many states.
According to data from the Nigerian System Operator’s portal (niggrid.org), the grid recorded a complete loss of power, registering zero Megawatts (MW) as of 8:16 am today.
All 22 generation companies (GenCos) were down at the time of this report.
This marks the third collapse this week and the eighth in 2024.
The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) has yet to confirm the latest incident, leaving Nigerians without an explanation for this round of blackouts.
Nigeria experienced its first power outage of 2024 on February 4, when the national grid collapsed around 11:51 AM, dropping from 2,407 MW to just 31 MW by noon before shutting down entirely by 1 PM.
Though TCN has not commented on the latest collapse, Power Minister Adebayo Adelabu stated yesterday that grid collapse are nearly unavoidable given the poor state of Nigeria’s power infrastructure.
The minister highlighted the need for multiple regional or state grids to prevent recurring national grid failures.
Speaking on Wednesday at the launch of Hexing Livoltek, an electricity meter manufacturer in Lagos, Adelabu emphasized that decentralizing the power sector could bring stability.
“Today, we rely on a single national grid. If it fails, all 36 states are affected. It shouldn’t be that way,” Adelabu said. “The new Electricity Act allows for regional and state grids, ensuring that if one grid collapses, only the affected region experiences outages.”
He stressed that continued investment in the power sector is essential to mitigate future grid failures.