In a major setback for Nigeria’s power sector, the national grid has collapsed once again, plunging the country into widespread blackouts. This latest failure marks the ninth grid collapse of 2024, with a significant number of these incidents occurring in October alone.
As power outages swept across the country, many Nigerians were left in the dark, grappling with the ongoing instability of the national grid. This latest grid collapse comes on the heels of mounting frustrations over the unreliability of the country’s power infrastructure.
The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) had yet to provide an official confirmation at the time of this report, leaving citizens to speculate about the cause of the disruption. However, the National Grid’s official Twitter handle acknowledged the incident, reassuring the public that restoration efforts were underway.
“BREAKING: National Grid suffers another setback. Restoration soon!” @NationalGridNg tweeted around 3 PM on Tuesday, adding to the growing sense of unease among the population.
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This latest collapse is part of a troubling pattern of grid failures that have plagued Nigeria’s power sector for years.
The frequency of these disruptions has raised concerns over the capacity of the country’s energy infrastructure to meet demand.
In response to the repeated grid failures, the Federal Government has pledged to find a lasting solution to the ongoing instability.
Last month, Minister of Power Adebayo Adelabu commented on the systemic issues affecting the national grid, stating that the collapse of the grid had become almost inevitable due to the deplorable state of the country’s power infrastructure.
“The grid collapses are almost inevitable, given the state of our infrastructure.
However, we are committed to fixing this problem,” Adelabu said, adding that reforms are underway to decentralise the power sector.
One of the key solutions, according to the minister, is the decentralisation of Nigeria’s electricity grid. Under the recently signed Electricity Act of 2023, regional power grids will be developed to ease pressure on the national grid.
Adelabu explained that the new policy would enable state and local governments to participate in the generation, transmission, and distribution of electricity, offering a more resilient approach to power delivery.
“We all rely on a single national grid today; if there is a disturbance of the national grid, it affects all 36 states. It shouldn’t be like that,” Adelabu said.
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“With the decentralisation brought about by the Electricity Act, we can start moving towards regional and state grids. This will ensure that power failures in one area do not affect the entire nation.”
The minister stressed that the development of regional grids would help prevent widespread blackouts, with each grid being shielded from the others to minimise national disruptions.
He assured Nigerians that this was a critical step towards addressing the persistent power shortages and stabilising the electricity supply.
