Nigeria’s electricity grid, operated by the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), has experienced another collapse, throwing the country into darkness.
The system, which has collapsed many times this year, went down some minutes to 7.00 p.m., cutting out the Distribution Companies (DisCos) from supply. Power generation was 00:00:00 at 19:41 hours.

This came just a few weeks after the TCN deployed a $56 million Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) system, funded by the World Bank, to reduce frequent power grid collapses and enhance supply reliability.

During a demonstration at the National Control Centre in Gwagwalada, Abuja, last month, the Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, noted that the SCADA system would enable the country to monitor the entire electricity network from a centralised location, ensuring prompt responses to outages, efficient load management and optimised system performance.

“With features like automated data collection, fault detection and remote-controlled operations, we are laying the foundation for a more resilient and responsive power sector,” he said.

Already, most DisCos have issued notice to their customers, blaming the power outage on the epileptic grid. The Enugu Electricity Distribution Company (EEDC) and Eko Electricity Distribution Company (EKEDC) have both confirmed the grid failure.

According to a statement from EEDC’s Head of Corporate Communications, Emeka Ezeh, the system collapse occurred at 18:48 hours, leaving customers in Abia, Anambra, Ebonyi, Enugu and Imo states without electricity. Ezeh confirmed that all interface stations managed by TCN within EEDC’s network were out of service.

However, limited supply was last night restored with Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC) receiving 30MW and Benin Electricity Distribution Company (BEDC) getting 20MW. As of the time of filing this report, TCN has yet to release an official statement on the cause of the grid collapse.

Electricity Market Analyst, Lanre Elatuyi, mentioned that grid collapse occur when there is an imbalance between generation and load that cannot be managed in real time thereby leading to frequency excursions out the nominal values prescribed by the grid code

“The reason for the grid collapse is unknown until the Regulator comes out to make an official statement after they might have found out from the System Operator that is charge of maintaining grid reliability. So whatever we say may be conjectures, or at best textbook reasons why the power grid may collapse,” he said.