Nigeria was engulfed in darkness on Thursday afternoon as the national electricity grid collapsed just ahead of the Easter holidays, leaving millions of households and businesses without power.
The national grid managed centrally from Osogbo, Osun State, suffered a major breakdown at 4:30 pm, leading to widespread blackouts across the country. Various distribution companies (DisCos) reported inactive feeders, exacerbating the situation.
Read also: Nigeria’s national power grid collapsed 46 times from 2017 to 2023, IEA report reveals
Data from the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) indicated that the grid collapsed around 4 pm, plummeting from 2,984 megawatts (MW) to zero within an hour. All 21 connected plants ceased operations by 5 pm, exacerbating the power outage.
In a statement, the Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC) attributed the outage to a system failure in the national grid. The AEDC stated, “The system collapsed at about 16:28 hours today, March 28, 2024, causing the outage currently being experienced across our franchise area. We appeal for your understanding as all stakeholders are working hard to restore normal supply.”
This incident marks another instance of a national grid collapse in recent times, with three similar occurrences recorded in 2023 on September 14, 19, and December 11.
Oreoluwa is an accountant and a brand writer with a flair for journalism.
