Nigeria’s power grid has collapsed again, causing nationwide blackouts

An electricity distribution plant in Lagos. (Photo by PIUS UTOMI EKPEI / AFP)

• Nigerian distributors say the country suffered a total grid collapse on Thursday.
• Much the country remains without power.
• Load shedding is implemented in South Africa to guard against grid collapse.

Nigeria’s electricity distribution companies reported “a total system collapse” on Thursday, causing widespread blackouts across Africa’s biggest economy.

Power generation fell to zero in the early hours and had risen to 273 megawatts (MW) by 10:30 still well below the daily average of 4 100 MW, data from the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) showed.

TCN did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Grid power supply is erratic in Nigeria, a major oil and gas producer, forcing households and businesses to use diesel and petrol generators.

The grid collapsed at least four times in 2022, which authorities blamed on technical problems.

Nigeria has 12 500 MW of installed capacity but produces about a quarter of that.

President Bola Tinubu has promised to improve supply by allowing state governments to build their own power plants in a bid to help spur sluggish economic growth.

Eskom has for decades warned that, should it not implement load shedding to manage an imbalance between supply and demand, the national grid could collapse.

A “cold start” of the power system could take days or even weeks, it has warned.

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