Nigeria’s national grid experienced its first collapse of 2020 on Thursday, leading to widespread blackouts across the country.
The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) confirmed the incident in a statement shared on its Twitter page, obtained by the News Agency of Nigeria in Lagos.
The disruption, termed a “system disturbance,” occurred around 12:34 p.m., affecting various regions.
By 1:10 p.m., power was restored to Abuja and most affected areas, though TCN continued efforts to fully stabilize the grid.
Second Collapse and Ongoing Challenges
Ikeja Electric, a major electricity distributor, also verified the initial collapse and reported a second incident at 2:15 p.m. on the same day.
In a statement on its Twitter account, the company noted that the outage, starting at 12:36 p.m., impacted its entire network.
The subsequent collapse further disrupted supply, with restoration efforts still underway.
Ikeja Electric urged customers to remain patient as work continued to address the issue.
Historical data indicates the grid collapsed over 10 times in 2019, highlighting ongoing reliability concerns.
Implications and Context
This double collapse underscores persistent challenges in Nigeria’s power infrastructure, raising questions about the adequacy of current maintenance and management practices.
While partial restoration was achieved, the recurring nature of such incidents suggests deeper systemic issues that may require long-term solutions beyond immediate fixes.
As the year progresses, the effectiveness of these restoration efforts will be critical for the nation’s energy stability.
