Nigerians were on Tuesday plunged into darkness following another collapse of the national power grid.
The PUNCH reports that since January 2024 till date, the grid has collapsed 10 times.
Within one week in October, the grid collapsed three times with its attendant blackouts, sparking reactions from Nigerians.
Checks by our correspondent confirmed yesterday that the grid lost power generation around 1:50 pm.
As of 1pm, power generation was 2,711 megawatts. At 12pm it was 3,631MW.
Earlier, power generation peaked at 3,934.77MW around six o’clock in the morning.
However, between 2 pm and 3 pm, hourly generation dropped to 0.00MW. The 22 power generation plants on the grid lost power supply at the time of the incident.
The Transmission Company of Nigeria confirmed the development, saying “The national grid experienced a partial disturbance at about 1;52 pm on 5th November 2024.“
TCN spokesperson, Ndidi Mbah, said, “This followed a series of lines and generators trippings that caused instability of the grid and, consequently, the partial disturbance of the system.“
Mbah said data from the National Control Centre revealed that a part of the grid was not affected by the bulk power disruption.
“TCN engineers are already working to quickly restore bulk power supply to the states affected by the partial disturbance. Presently, bulk power supply has been restored to Abuja, at 2.49 pm, and we are gradually restoring to other parts of the country.
“We sincerely apologise for every inconvenience this may cause our electricity customers,“ she said.
The power outage caused by the grid collapse affected both the north and the south.
Ikeja DisCo of Lagos, in a notice to its customers, said, “Dear esteemed customer, please be informed that we experienced a system outage today affecting supply within our network. Restoration of supply is ongoing in collaboration with our critical stakeholders. Kindly bear with us.”
Also, the Abuja Electricity Distribution Company in a post on its Official X handle, said, “Dear Valued Customer, please be informed that the power outage being experienced is due to a system failure from the national grid at 1:52 pm to our franchise areas. Rest assured, we are working with the relevant stakeholders to restore power as soon as the grid is stabilised. Thank you for your understanding.”
Ibadan DisCo reported, “Kindly note that a system disturbance occurred today, Tuesday, 5th November 2024, resulting in power outages across our franchise areas (Oyo, Ibadan, Ogun, Kwara, and Osun regions).
“However, partial power supply has been restored to Osun, Kwara, and Ogun regions. We are working closely with our partners in the value chain to ensure the speedy restoration of power supply to the Oyo and Ibadan regions. We sincerely regret the inconvenience caused by this disruption and appreciate your understanding in this matter.”
It was observed that hospitals, schools and other businesses were affected by the ugly development which many said has become a norm in the power sector.
Some parts of the north where power was recently restored experienced another blackout yesterday following the system collapse.
Damaturu metropolis and its surrounding areas in Yobe State experienced widespread power outages.
It was observed that power supply from Gombe, which normally provides electricity to Damaturu, was disrupted.
A management staff member at the Damaturu PHCN District office, who requested anonymity, stated, “As of now, we have no information regarding the cause of the power outage in Damaturu and its environs. We have contacted the Gombe substation, which supplies power to our area, but they have not been able to provide any information about the grid failure.”
The Jos Electricity Distribution Company announced a power outage in Gombe, Bauchi, Plateau and Benue States.
In a press statement signed by the Head, Corporate Communications, Dr Friday Elijah, the Jos DisCo said the interruption that occurred at about 1:52 pm was a sequel to the loss of power supply from the national grid.
Our correspondent reports that this came barely five days after the blackout occasioned by the destruction of transmission lines was fixed.
The statement partly read, “The current outage being experienced within our franchise states is a result of loss of power supply from the national grid. The loss of power supply from the national grid occurred this afternoon at about 1352 hours of today, Tuesday, 5th November 2024, hence the loss of power supply on all our feeders.”
While seeking patience and understanding, Elijah promised that power would be restored as soon as national grid was restored.
“We hope to restore normal power supply to our esteemed customers as soon as the grid supply is restored back to normalcy,” Elijah added.