Power Outage Crisis: Nigeria’s Grid Collapse Causes Widespread Blackout

A critical stage of Nigeria’s power struggle has unfolded, as the national grid collapsed for the sixth time this year on Monday evening, plunging many into darkness. According to the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), 90% of its substations have now received bulk power supply, with efforts to fully recover the grid still ongoing.

The partial grid collapse, which occurred around 6:18 pm, led to a drastic reduction in power generation, with levels dropping from 3.87 gigawatts at 5 pm to 0.00 gigawatts by 7 pm and 8 pm. The Federal Capital Territory (FCT) was among the areas severely affected, with power supply remaining out for several hours.

Despite the inconvenience and frustration, the TCN has assured that the problem will soon be resolved, emphasizing that the recovery process has reached an advanced stage. "The slight setback notwithstanding, TCN continued with the grid recovery process, which has reached an advanced stage, ensuring bulk power availability to about 90 per cent of its substations nationwide," said Public Affairs General Manager Ndidi Mbah in a statement.

In the meantime, electricity consumers in the FCT, including the general public, are calling for a more sustainable and reliable solution to Nigeria’s power crisis, citing the frequent grid collapses as an embarrassment to the country. While some areas, such as the South Southern parts of the country, were able to receive power from the Ibom Gas generating station, which remained offline, others are still waiting for the grid to be fully restored.

As the investigation into the cause of the incident is set to commence once the grid is fully restored, the road to a solution seems long and winding. One thing is clear, however: the power crisis in Nigeria requires urgent attention and resolution.