Nigeria in darkness as power grid collapses

Adebayo Obajemu

Nigeria was again thrust into darkness on Thursday afternoon as a result of the collapse of the electricity grid controlled from Osogbo, Osun State, around 4:32 p.m.

A source in one of the distribution companies (DisCo) stated that the feeders for most DisCos nationwide were out of supply.

The development has left virtually all franchise areas for DisCos across the 36 states in darkness.

As of 4p.m, the grid output was 2984 megawatts. But by 5 p.m., the 21 plants on the grid had zero output according to the source who spoke with EnergyDay.

Recall that in February, a grid collapse also left the nation in darkness.

A last check with the source when filing this report revealed that Azura was the only plant on the grid with an output capacity of about 54 megawatts.

Egbin, Afam, Geregu, Ibom Power, Jebba, Kainji, Odukpani, and Olorunsogo, among other plants, all had zero output.

In November 2013, the federal government privatised all generation and 11 distribution companies, with the FG retaining the ownership of the transmission company. This was to improve efficiency in the sector.

However, since privatisation, the grid has collapsed more than 140 times.