Joseph Bakare
With the collapse of the national grid in the early hours of Thursday, which partially threw some parts of the country in darkness, the number of grid collapse in the country has increased to 47 between 2017 to 2023.
The grid collapsed at least four times in 2022, which authorities blamed on technical problems.
Nigeria has 12,500 MW of installed capacity but produces about a quarter of that.
The recent grid collapse comes after the nation’s power grid had achieved uninterrupted stability for over 400 consecutive days.
Several Power Distribution Companies, DisCos, after the incident confirmed many of their feeders were out of service.
In a statement, the Eko Electricity Distribution Company (EKEDC) reported that a system collapse occurred at 6:41 a.m. today, (Thursday) leading to a complete loss of supply across their network.
“We are in continuous communication with our partners at the National Control Centre (NCC), Osogbo. You will be updated as we get more information,” the company said in a statement on its X handle.
The recent grid collapse comes just weeks after the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) announced that the nation’s power grid had achieved uninterrupted stability for over 400 consecutive days.
Nigeria has always struggled with challenges in its electricity sector, posing significant obstacles to economic development and the daily lives of its citizens. Despite the privatisation of the sector, Nigerians are yet to enjoy uninterrupted power supply.
These electricity problems stem from a complex web of issues, including outdated infrastructure, inadequate maintenance, and limited investment in the power sector.
Nigeria’s electricity grid collapse between 2017 and 2023, according to the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN).
The TCN, said it notes that grid restoration nationwide is in progress and has reached advanced stages with power supply now available in the West, North Central, South, East, and a large portion of the Northern parts of the country.
The power supply restoration according to TCN spokesperson Ndidi Mbah, is sequel to the total grid collapse, which occurred at about 12.35 am, on Thursday causing outage nationwide, after over 421 days of consistent grid stability.
In the course of the grid restoration, the process initially suffered a setback; but did not amount to another collapse, she said.
In the course of any grid restoration process, challenges may be encountered, “This happened today while the grid restoration was in progress, but it was promptly addressed.” she explained.
She recalled that the last total system collapse recorded was on 20th July 2022, and since then, to the 13th of September, 2023, (421 days). Prior to this, the system had been stable in spite of the challenges posed by zero spinning reserve and lack of System Control and lack of adequate Data Acquisition (SCADA) essential to a strong and stable grid, among others TCN had been able to maintain 400 days of grid stability because it developed and deployed in-house stop gap measures and tools that it has continued to use to manage the nations grid, ensuring its stability.
“The incident notwithstanding, TCN is determined to continue to do its best to ensure grid stability.” she added.
Mbah, further said the collapse that occurred after a fire incident on Kanji/Jebba 330kV line 2 is being investigated, with the view to forestalling future occurrence
and invariably further strengthen the grid.