The national grid has collapsed for the fifth time in 2024, plunging the country into darkness.
The Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC) described the development as a system failure, stating that it affected its customers on Monday afternoon.
AEDC reported on Monday that some of its customers were still without electricity supply.
“We understand that some of our customers are still without power due to a system failure from the national grid at 2.55 p.m. today, August 5, 2024. Please be assured that the system is gradually stabilising, and we are working diligently with all relevant stakeholders to restore power to the affected areas as quickly as possible,” the AEDC stated, thanking the customers for their patience and understanding.
The spokesperson of the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), Ndidi Mbah, promised to revert with details of the incident when contacted. She had yet to revert until this report was filed.
Meanwhile, checks by our correspondents confirmed that hourly power generation by the various plants dropped from 3,749 megawatts at 2 p.m. to 3,241 MW and 1,255 MW as of 3 p.m. It was 4,067 MW as of 11 a.m..
The power generation experienced gradual restoration, returning to 3,00 MW at 8 p.m.
Also, the Egbin Power Plant, which generated 222 MW until 2 p.m., reportedly dropped to 0.00 MW throughout the day.
In a recent interview, Princewill Okorie, Executive Director, Electricity Consumer Protection Advocacy Centre, regretted that the grid continues to have issues despite the hike in electricity tariffs.
Okorie bemoaned the fact that unmetered customers would still have to pay for the collapse period and questioned the government’s efforts to prevent such incidents.
“What are the causes of these grid failures or collapses? Are the materials used in building the grip of excellent quality and standard? Who is managing the grid? The players in the sector are more interested in collecting money from consumers than making the system stable.
“What you hear more about the power sector is payment. Where are the money that the international communities are bringing to the industry and the money that is unlawfully collected from consumers? What are the operational expenditures of the Discos, and how do they spend them?
“In the past few months, they have kept increasing tariffs, yet the power sector is inefficient. They are interested in collecting money, but whether the money is judiciously used or not, nobody cares. They keep overbilling customers. The desperation to collect revenue from customers for services not delivered is a challenge.
“Now that the grid has collapsed, the unmetered customers will still be made to pay for darkness. That is an injustice. The government should address this issue of grid collapse once and for all,” Okorie stated.
