The national electricity grid has collapsed again, causing widespread blackouts in some parts of the country.
This marks the fifth collapse of the grid this year.
The latest collapse occurred at 1:33 pm on Monday.
The Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC) confirmed the incident, noting that the grid collapsed around 2:55 pm.
“We understand that some of our customers are still without power due to a system failure from the national grid at 2.55 pm today, 5th August 2024,” AEDC wrote on X (formerly Twitter).
Despite the widespread blackout, the AEDC assured customers that efforts are underway to restore power.
“Please be assured that the system is gradually stabilizing, and we are working diligently with all relevant stakeholders to restore power to the affected areas as quickly as possible,” the company stated.
The frequent collapses of Nigeria’s national grid have been a significant issue this year.
The grid first collapsed on February 4, followed by incidents on March 28, April 15, and July 6.
The July collapse was partially attributed to the unexpected tripping of three units of a power generating station, which suddenly removed 313MW from the grid, causing instability.
Ndidi Mbah, General Manager of Public Affairs for the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), provided insight into the July incident, via a statement.
“The system disturbance, which brings to three the partial grid disturbances, with one total disturbance this year, is suspected to have been triggered by the unexpected tripping of three units of a power generating station,” Mbah explained.
“This sudden removal of 313MW from the grid caused system instability that led to the loss of bulk supply to a section of the national grid.”
Mbah further detailed the response efforts, stating, “The System Operator reacted to the sudden drop in generation which led to a dip in frequency, by islanding a section of the grid which includes the Ibom Power Station through which the company continued to feed Uyo, Aba, Itu, Eket, Calabar, etc., even when the other section of the grid had no supply.
“Also, the operators commenced grid restoration efforts immediately after the incident.
“At about 21:57 hours yesterday, the entire part of the grid that was affected by yesterday’s incident was successfully restored.”
