The nation was thrown into darkness on Sunday, Feb 3rd, 2024 as the national grid collapsed, resulting in a complete blackout across the country. This marks the first grid collapse of the year, following a series of three consecutive collapses in 2023.
Power distribution companies (DisCos) took to social media to announce that the nationwide blackout was a direct consequence of the grid’s collapse, which is managed by the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN).
According to data from TCN’s generation trend, the grid collapsed around 11 am on Sunday, causing the system’s capacity to plummet from 2,407 megawatts (MW) to a mere 31MW by mid-day, and eventually dropping to zero by 1 pm.
In their statements, the DisCos urged customers to remain calm while repairs are underway to restore the grid.
“The management of Abuja Electricity Distribution Plc (AEDC) wishes to inform its valued customers that the power outage being experienced is as a result of a system failure from the national grid at 11:21 hours today, 4th February 2024, which has led to a nationwide power outage,” AEDC stated.
“We want to assure you that we are working closely with relevant stakeholders to restore power as soon as the grid is stabilized.”
Abdulazeez Abdullahi, the head of corporate communication at Kaduna Electricity Distribution Plc (KAEDCO), confirmed the loss of “bulk power supply” in Kaduna, Sokoto, Zamfara, and Kebbi states, assuring customers that power will be restored once they receive the supply at the load centres within their franchise.
Similarly, the Jos Electricity Distribution Plc affirmed that power supply will resume once the grid returns to normalcy.
While the TCN has not issued an official statement on the matter, the electric grid manager recently expressed concerns over the gradual decrease in available generation. TCN attributed this decline to gas constraints faced by generating companies, which subsequently affected the amount of bulk power available for transmission across the national grid.
As Nigerians endure the nationwide blackout, the restoration of the grid remains a top priority, and efforts are underway to rectify the situation and bring back stable power supply to the nation.