Nationwide blackout as Nigeria's national grid collapses again

Nigeria is hit by a nationwide blackout as the national power grid collapsed again on Sunday, the first grid collapse in 2024.

The national grid collapsed on Sunday, at around 11:51 AM, when the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) operated grid went down.

Consequently, the system’s capacity dropped from 2,407 megawatts to just 31MW by midday and to zero by 1 PM.

The discos have already sent alerts to customers about the situation as Kaduna Electric confirmed that the loss of bulk power supply left Kaduna, Sokoto, Zamfara, and Kebbi states in darkness.

“Power supply shall be restored to our customers as soon as we receive same at load centres across our franchise. We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience,” Abdulazeez Abdullahi, head of corporate communication at Kaduna Electric said on Sunday.

Although the TCN has not yet released a statement on the cause of the collapse, it is likely due to inadequate infrastructure, gas supply problems, and transmission system constraints.

The collapse of the national grid is a significant setback for Nigeria’s economy and development.

Due to power outages, Nigeria is estimated to lose billions of dollars annually. The outages also harm the quality of life of Nigerians, making it difficult for people to work, study, and run their businesses.