Nigeria in darkness after ‘total collapse’ of national grid

Nigerian cities and homes have been thrown into darkness after the national grid failed early Thursday.

The Enugu Electricity Distribution Company PLC (EEDC) said the grid, operated by the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) from Osogbo, Osun State, suffered “a total system collapse” at 12:40 a.m.

“This has resulted in the loss of supply currently being experienced across the network,” the company said in a statement.

The company provides electricity to bia, Anambra, Ebonyi, Enugu and Imo states.

The Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC) said the power outage in the capital and neighbouring states was caused by “a system failure from the national grid in the early hours of today, 14 September 2023.”

The Eko Electricity Distribution Company (EKEDC), which covers commercial capital Lagos, said, “Kindly be informed that a system collapse occurred today at 6:41 a.m. This has resulted in a total loss of supply across our 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 posted on its X handle.

Kano Electricity Distribution Company (KEDCO) also reported “that the current power outage across our network is due to a system collapse from the national grid, which has resulted in our inability to distribute electricity to our esteemed customers.”

History of collapse

Nigeria’s wobbly national grid suffers frequent failure but appeared to have improved in the last year.

The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) said in August that it had uninterrupted stability for over 400 consecutive days, the longest in years.

“This milestone signifies a remarkable advancement in the nation’s efforts at strengthening its power infrastructure and ensuring a reliable and dependable electricity supply to distribution load centres for onward distribution to electricity customers nationwide,” the company said in a statement.