Nigeria’s national electricity grid has collapsed for the first this year, plunging power generation across the country to zero megawatts (MW).
Data released by the Nigerian Independent System Operator (NISO) confirmed that electricity generation and load allocation dropped completely, leaving all electricity distribution companies (DisCos) without supply.
According to NISO, the collapse resulted in zero load allocation to the nation’s 11 DisCos, effectively cutting off power supply nationwide.
“The national grid experienced a total collapse, with generation falling to zero megawatts,” NISO said in a system update released on Wednesday.
The affected distribution companies include Benin, Eko, Enugu, Ikeja, Jos, Kaduna, Kano, Port Harcourt, Ibadan, Abuja and Yola electricity distribution companies, all of which recorded zero power allocation during the outage.
Industry experts say a total grid collapse typically disrupts electricity supply across the country and takes hours, and sometimes days, to fully restore, depending on the severity of the fault.
Nigeria’s power sector has continued to struggle with grid instability. Last year, the national grid collapsed multiple times, raising concerns about the reliability of the country’s electricity infrastructure and the need for urgent reforms.
Efforts to stabilise the grid are ongoing, with power sector stakeholders calling for increased investment in transmission infrastructure and improved system management to prevent recurrent nationwide blackouts.
