…Worsens FG’s 20hr power target
Nigeria’s National grid has suffered yet another collapse of this year, leading to a significant drop in electricity generation to just 0.80 megawatts, (MWs).
The power grid collapse, the fourth time in 2024, is occurring amid ongoing furore over the hike in electricity tariff for premium consumers.
The electricity grid, on February 4, collapsed for the first time in 2024. Also, the country suffered another nationwide blackout following the collapse of the National Grid on March 28, and again on April 15.
While the Federal Government had increased tariff by over 250% for about two million households under Band-A, the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), which is in charge of the grid and the distribution companies have been trading blame over the inability to meet up with the promised 20 hours of electricity, which was the basis for the hike in tariff.
According to data obtained from the Nigerian System Operator’s portal (niggrid.org), the collapse occured at 3:00 pm and it persisted till the time of filing this report.
Enugu Electricity Distribution Company confirmed the development on its official X (Twitter) account. In an issued statement titled: “Notice of general system collapse,”, signed by Head of Corporate Communications at the DisCo, Emeka Ezeh, all its interfaces in the TCN stations are out of supply, saying it is unable to provide services to customers in Abia, Anambra, Ebonyi, Enugu, and Imo States.
“The Enugu Electricity Distribution Company wishes to inform its esteemed customers of a general system collapse which occurred at 15:09 hours today, 6th July 2024. This has resulted in the loss of supply currently being experienced across the network. Due to this development, all our interface TCN stations are out of supply, and we are unable to provide services to our customers in Abia, Anambra, Ebonyi, Enugu, and Imo States.
“We are on standby awaiting detailed information of the collapse and restoration of supply from the National Control Centre, Osogbo”.
According to reports, the Independent System Operator, part of the TCN, showed a significant decline in power plant contributions. As of 2 pm yesterday, the grid’s output had dropped to 2,797.16 MWs, from an average of 3,417.99 MWs recorded at 1 pm. By 3pm, the situation worsened with electricity generation further plummeting to 1,020.08 MWs. By 4 pm, the grid experienced a dramatic collapse, resulting in an alarming low of only 0.80 MWs being generated nationwide, with the Trans-Amadi Power Plant being the sole contributor to the grid at that time.
The last time the country was plunged into darkness due to the grid failure was on Monday, April 15, 2024.
This latest collapse underscores on-going challenges in Nigeria’s power sector, highlighting issues with grid reliability and the ability to meet the country’s electricity demand.
