Nigeria has been plunged into darkness on Thursday as the entire national electricity grid suffered a catastrophic collapse in the early hours of Thursday, September 14, 2023.
Reports indicate that the calamitous grid failure occurred at precisely 12:40 a.m., leaving millions of Nigerians without access to electricity and causing significant disruption across the country. The collapse has resulted in a massive loss of power supply to electricity distributors, affecting both urban and rural areas alike.
This dire situation has been confirmed by multiple sources within the power sector, as well as by various electricity distribution companies, who were forced to inform the public about the unfolding crisis.
The Enugu Electricity Distribution Company Plc, one of the key players in the nation’s power distribution, issued an official notice titled ‘Notice of Total System Collapse’ to address the dire situation. While the notice did not provide specific details regarding the cause of the grid failure, it emphasized the seriousness of the situation and urged consumers to brace themselves for an extended period without electricity.
“The EEDC wishes to inform her esteemed customers of a total system collapse which occurred at 12:40 am today, September 14, 2023.
“This has resulted in the loss of supply currently being experienced across the network. Due to this development, all our interface TCN (Transmission Company of Nigeria) stations are out of supply, and we are unable to provide service to our customers in Abia, Anambra, Ebonyi, Enugu and Imo states.
“We are on standby awaiting detailed information of the collapse and restoration of supply from the National Control Centre, Osogbo.”
The notice bore the signature of Emeka Ezeh, who serves as the Head of Corporate Communications for EEDC.
However, as of now, there has been no official statement or response from the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), the entity responsible for overseeing Nigeria’s grid.
Reports indicate that the Independent System Operator had detected early warnings of an impending grid failure as far back as 10:00 p.m. on Wednesday, with nearly all 26 electricity generation plants experiencing a significant decline in their output to 00MW.
Notably, just one week ago, the transmission firm marked a significant milestone, celebrating what it termed “400 days of uninterrupted power grid stability” in Nigeria. During this period, TCN proudly asserted that the national grid had experienced no collapses whatsoever.
The consequences of this nationwide blackout are far-reaching, impacting industries, businesses, and households across Nigeria. Residents are left in a state of uncertainty, grappling with the challenges of no electricity for an unspecified duration.
Efforts to restore power and investigate the root cause of this catastrophic grid collapse are now underway, with government agencies and power sector stakeholders working tirelessly to rectify the situation.