Nigeria was plunged into darkness on Thursday following yet another collapse of the national electricity grid, with the Nigerian Independent System Operator (NISO) attributing the disturbance to the sudden tripping of a Generation Company.
NISO explained that the tripping triggered a significant load drop that cascaded across other generation plants, ultimately causing the grid to collapse and cutting power supply to households, industries, and businesses across the country.
The incident according to a statement from the agency came up after the initial tripping cascaded into other Generation Companies, leading to the loss of supply from the national grid.
Thursday’s collapse adds to the growing list of grid failures that have plagued Africa’s largest economy, underscoring the vulnerability of Nigeria’s power infrastructure. Despite successive reforms and investments in the sector, system disturbances remain frequent, often paralyzing socio-economic activities.
An energy economist, Dr. Jide Martins, said the recurring grid collapses are “a direct consequence of years of underinvestment in transmission infrastructure,” adding that “Nigeria cannot sustain a centralized grid without adequate redundancy systems. We need regional grids and embedded power generation to reduce the frequency of system-wide blackouts.”
Similarly, Mrs. Hauwa Danjuma, a power sector analyst, faulted poor coordination amongst the power value chain players. “Each time the grid collapses, millions of Nigerians are left stranded. It’s not just about generation but about stability and accountability in the entire system.”
The latest collapse sparked frustration amongst citizens and businesses already grappling with rising energy costs. “I had to shut down my bakery for the day because the generator fuel cost is unbearable,” lamented Mr. Chukwuemeka Okorie, a small business owner in Abuja.
Consumer advocacy groups also weighed in. The Nigerian Electricity Consumers Forum described the outage as “a national embarrassment,” calling on government to compel operators to implement lasting solutions. “Ordinary Nigerians cannot continue to bear the brunt of systemic inefficiencies,” the group said.
NISO assured that engineers are already working with relevant stakeholders to restore stability and prevent a recurrence with the view to restore the supply of power within a short time.
Nigeria, with a population of over 200 million, generates far below its installed electricity capacity, leaving citizens grappling with epileptic supply, frequent outages, and an overreliance on costly alternatives such as petrol and diesel generators.
