The entire nation has been plunged into darkness again today, November 7, 2024, following the collapse of Nigeria’s national grid for the second time in three days. In a year marked by recurring power disruptions, the national grid has collapsed over 10 times, causing widespread outages across the country.
Here’s a timeline of Nigeria’s national grid collapses in 2024:
February 4, 2024 — First collapse of the year
The national grid suffered its first collapse on Sunday, February 4. It was reported that the collapse was caused by a system failure by the power distribution companies and the collapse led to prolonged power outages in many regions across the country, with distribution companies struggling to restore electricity.
March 28, 2024 — Second collapse
Barely two months later, on Thursday, March 28, the grid collapsed again, and was attributed to another system failure by distribution companies being reported. While power was restored in some areas within 24 hours, others experienced extended outages. This marked the second significant disruption of the year and prompted calls by Nigerians for urgent reforms in grid management.
April 15, 2024 — Third collapse
A third incident on Monday, April 15, brought another wave of power cuts, affecting key cities and industrial zones. The national grid provider reports attributed the cause to frequency imbalances within the system. This collapse further highlighted systemic challenges in maintaining grid stability.
July 6, 2024 — Mid-year collapse
On Saturday, July 6, the national grid collapsed again, pushing the year’s tally to four. This mid-year crisis caused heightened public frustration as critical sectors, including healthcare and manufacturing, were disrupted. The national grid provider acknowledged the severity of the collapse and assured Nigerians that contingency measures were being reinforced.
August 5, 2024 – Continued instability
Monday, August 5, marked yet another collapse, with widespread blackouts reported across the country. Power was gradually restored in the following days, but the repeated failures raised questions about the nation’s energy infrastructure investment, maintenance, and capacity.
October 14, 2024 — The first of many in October
In October, the country faced back-to-back disturbances. On Monday, October 14, the national grid experienced a major collapse. The disruption affected a significant portion of the country, leading to an outcry from individuals and businesses, severely impacted by the outage.
October 15, 2024 – Partial collapse
A day later, on Tuesday, October 15, a partial collapse occurred, further compounding the instability. While not as widespread as previous collapses, it added to the growing concerns about the grid’s fragility and raised alarms about the grid’s ability to handle peak demand.
October 19, 2024 – More disturbance
On Saturday, October 19, the grid faced another disturbance, though this time, it stopped short of a complete collapse. The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) explained that the power outage was to curtail the explosion of a transformer at the Jebba transmission substation and prevent the outbreak of fire and further damage to other equipment.
The TCN later released a statement revealing that they had “reconfigured the busbar arrangement, restoring power supply to the station and other parts of the grid.”
October 22, 2024 — Northern states in darkness
The National grid suffered yet another collapse, plunging several states into another round of darkness. Residents in northern Nigeria faced a total blackout from October 22, 2024, affecting 17 states.
The TCN confirmed the development but stated that the national grid experienced a partial disturbance due to vandalism and a malfunction in the transmission lines.
November 5, 2024 — A partial collapse
The national grid experienced a partial disturbance at about 1:52 pm on November 5, 2024. Explaining the reason for the power outage, TCN spokesperson Ndidi Mbah said, “This followed a series of line and generator trippings that caused instability in the grid and, consequently, the partial disturbance of the system.”
November 7, 2024 – The most recent collapse
The TCN has once again announced a national grid collapse during an ongoing gradual restoration, the second in three days. The National Grid account on X (formerly Twitter) announced the collapse in a tweet but assured that “restoration of supply is ongoing in collaboration with our critical stakeholders. Kindly bear with us.”
The cause of the frequent collapse
The minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, has attributed the frequent grid collapses to vandalism and equipment theft. However, the TCN reported only one case of vandalism as a partial cause of the grid collapse that affected Kano.
The federal government also stated that the frequent collapses are due to the inability of the electricity distribution companies (DisCos) to adequately receive power generated by the grid. The National Orientation Agency (NOA) explained in a post on X (formerly Twitter) that Nigeria produces enough power, but the distribution companies “reject the power due to their fragile systems.”
Despite the TCN’s plans to investigate, identify the immediate and remote causes of the recurring grid collapse and find a permanent solution, no lasting solution has been found. This emphasises the need for critical action by the federal government to prevent future disruptions.
