Nigeria’s national power grid experienced a partial collapse on Tuesday, causing widespread blackouts across many regions of the country.
This marks the ninth such incident this year, intensifying concerns about the stability of the power infrastructure. The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) confirmed the grid disturbance occurred at around 12:52 GMT.
A series of line and generator trips caused the collapse, further destabilizing the already fragile system. Power was restored in some regions, including the capital Abuja, within an hour.
However, many areas remained in the dark as engineers worked to restore electricity. “TCN engineers are already working to quickly restore bulk power supply to the states affected,” said spokesperson Ndidi Mbah.
Nigeria, the most populous country in Africa with over 200 million citizens, frequently suffers blackouts due to an aging power system and frequent infrastructure vandalism.
Though the country has the capacity to generate 13,000 megawatts of electricity, the grid’s weaknesses mean only about one-third can be distributed effectively. As a result, businesses and households heavily rely on costly fuel generators to maintain operations.
Persistent outages are a constant strain on Nigeria’s economy and quality of life, with no immediate resolution in sight for the struggling power sector.
