Darkness As Grid Collapses

OpenLife Nigeria reports that the national power grid, managed by the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) from its base in Osogbo, Osun State, experienced a major failure on Thursday morning, resulting in widespread power outages across much of the country.

Specifically, Nigeria’s power supply has dropped by 93.5 per cent to 273 megawatts, MW in the early hours of today, from 4,182MW recorded on Monday, this week, following a complete system collapse, due to equipment failure or grid disturbance in the sector.

Data from Nigeria Electricity System Operator, the semi-autonomous arm of the Transmission Company of Nigeria, TCN, showed that Afam VI, Dadinkowa, Ibom Power, Jebba, Olorunsogo generated 0.70MW, 0.00MW, 32.90MW, 240MW and zero respectively.

A top industry leader, who confirmed the development, said: “The grid has been very unstable for days before the latest system collapse. As we speak, there is blackout.”

Checks showed that Nigeria’s electricity generation dropped, Tuesday, by 59 per cent to 1,705 megawatts, MW, from 4,182 MW recorded the previous day at 06:00hours, due to grid disturbance.

Many households and businesses are currently generating their independent power at higher costs because of the high price of diesel currently hovering at over N600 per litre.

Also, the high cost of petrol that shot up by about 169 per cent to over N500 per litre since June 2023, from N186 per litre (major marketers) in the preceding month of May 2023 has negatively impacted household and industrial operations.