For the fifth time in the first quarter of 2022, the national grid has gone out. Several Nigerian cities including the Federal Capital Territory were thrown into darkness.
The country’s distribution companies announced the breakdown after prolonged hours of outage experienced in some parts of the country.
The Abuja Electricity Distribution Company confirmed the collapse on Twitter late Friday Night.
“Please be informed that there has just been a national grid collapse causing an outage in our franchise areas. We apologize for the inconvenience caused and appeal that you bear with us while we await restoration from the TCN. We regret all inconvenience caused,” it said.
The Eko Electricity Distribution Company said, “Dear Esteemed Customers, a planned outage has been scheduled by our TCN partners for Saturday, April 9, 2022. between 9 am and 3 pm. This is to enable the TCN crew repair a wounded conductor between Tower #9 and #10 on the Ajah/Alagbon 330kV Line.”
The Kaduna Electricity Distribution Company said, “Dear Esteemed Customers, the management of Kaduna electric regrets to inform you that the current outage being experienced in our franchise states is due to a collapse of the national grid.”
“The collapse occurred at about 18:29 pm this evening. Normal power supply shall be restored as soon as the grid is restored.
“We sincerely apologise for all inconveniences,” the spokesperson of the company, Abdulazeez Abdullahi said.
The Jos Electricity Distribution Company said, “Dear customers, there was a loss of supply as a result of the system collapse of the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) about 6:30 p.m. across all our franchise states of Bauchi, Benue, Gombe and Plateau,” it said.
This latest collapse, the third in less than a month, came despite assurances by the Federal Government that it has taken steps to address the problem.
The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), which manages the grid, last month said it had developed alternative ways of managing the grid.
The grid collapsed on March 14 at 10:40 am leading to a power outage across the country. Barely 48 hours later, the grid collapsed again on March 15, resulting in a blackout in communities across states.
What’s the issue?
The energy crisis, including an increase in fuel and diesel prices, has gone on for a while now, and takin a toll on businesses.
Mid-March, TCN blamed the abysmal power supply experienced nationwide on low power generation by the generation companies (GenCos).
On March 10, power generation companies (GenCos) accused the government of not meeting up with its financial obligations to them – up to 1.644 trillion naira. GenCos said they are unable to maintain their machines and pay gas suppliers which have resulted in low power generation for the grid.
Speaking to NTA, the Executive Secretary of the Association of Power Generation Companies (APGC), Dr Joy Ogaji said lack of payment was hindering the operations of the GenCos.
According to her, “The hope we can give to Nigerians is that let the government pay our outstanding. The moment they pay, we will pay our gas suppliers, we will be able to quickly do the maintenance and we will produce again. We are in the business of production. That is something we know how to do.
“It is ‘money for hand, power for grid. Why is it that hydro’s (plants) are in maintenance, thermals are also in maintenance? The machines are down; units have been damaged by surges. A lot of destructions on our machines and we are not compensated for that destruction even the power you have taken, you are not paying for it”, she added.
The government rejected the claims by the GenCos saying they have been paid as when due.
Bottomline
The blame game is going to continue and will Nigerians will continue to experience power outages as long as political will is absent in the conversation.
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