Power Outages As Electricity Grid Collapses In Nigeria, Africa’s Largest Economy

In deed power outages in the most-populous nation in Africa, are common, but a system collapse which rarely occurs is assuming worrisome trend to what analysts attribute to lack of maintenance and obsolete infrastructure.

“At 11:25am today, May 12, the nation’s electricity grid experienced multiple trippings, which led to the collapse of the system,” the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) said in a statement.

“TCN has since commenced grid restoration; power has been successfully restored to every part of the country, except Calabar, Ugwuaji, Makurdi, Jos, Gombe, Yola and Maidugiri axes,” it added.
But other areas like Arepo, Ibafo axis in Ogun State have been in darkness since last night except for few minutes they brought in the afternoon and it was taken after over 30 minutes.
TCN said it would conduct investigations to establish what caused the “multiple trippings” as soon as the grid was fully restored.

The nation’s sclerotic power grid, along with the resulting precarious energy supply, is a key issue hindering growth in the continent’s largest economy.

Nigeria recently implemented its first power tariff increase in state-controlled prices since 2015. That doubled prices for some consumers, but the government and industry said it was needed to allow distribution companies to recoup costs and pay generating companies.