Few weeks after electricity tarriff hike, national grid collapses

Some parts of Nigeria have been thrown into darkness after the nation’s electricity grid collapsed.

This happened in the early hours of Monday, April 15, 2024, Business Day reports.

According to data obtained from the Nigerian System Operator’s portal (niggrid.org), the collapse happened between 2:00 am till the time of filing this report.

The grid recorded an unprecedented zero Megawatts (MW) at the time and is currently generating a meagre 52.3MW around 7:10 am the same day.

The consequences of this blackout were felt nationwide, as electricity distribution companies (DisCos) struggled to cope with the sudden and prolonged outage.

Many parts of the country have been plunged into darkness for over five hours as the grid is yet to come into full recovery.

This collapse marks the fifth grid disturbance in 2024.

As of the time this report was filed, the TCN had not stated to confirm the occurrence, leaving the public and stakeholders in the dark about the source and resolution of the newest crisis.

Earlier this month, the government announced a hike in the electricity bill adding that those affected (Band A users) would now pay a tariff of N225 per kilowatt-hour, up from the previous rate of N68/kWh, representing about 240 per cent increase.