Electricity consumers have expressed concerns following the collapse of the national grid on Wednesday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Consumers were worried that the grid collapsed at a time when the government was planning to increase tariffs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The PUNCH reports that the national grid experienced another system collapse on Wednesday, throwing many Nigerians into a blackout.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On various social media platforms, Nigerians complained over the incessant grid collapses, wondering if the problem could not be solved by the government.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Our correspondent reports that the grid lost power generation around 11:34 am on Wednesday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sources in some power generation companies confirmed that there was a general grid disturbance. It was gathered that there was a trip-off and the power went off before noon. Most power plants on the grid lost generation when the incident occurred.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For instance, the Egbin power plant lost 600 megawatts of power; Azura Edo lost over 400MW; Geregu lost about 200MW; Olorunshogo, 180MW; Jebba, 400MW; Omotosho, 180MW; Paras Energy, 100MW, among others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
At 11 am, hourly power generation was 4064 megawatts but this dropped to 1,203MW at 12 pm and 0.00MW at 1 pm. On its X handle, the Abuja Electricity Distribution Company confirmed the development.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cDear valued customer, we regret to inform you that a system disturbance occurred on the national grid at 11:34 am today causing a power outage across our franchise areas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhile gradual restoration of power supply has commenced, please be assured that we are working closely with relevant stakeholders to fully restore electricity as soon as the grid is stabilised. Thank you for your understanding and patience as we work to serve you better.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Similarly, Ikeja Disco said, \u201cDear esteemed customer, please be informed that we experienced a system outage today 12th February 2025, at 11:34hrs affecting all our feeders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cRestoration of supply is ongoing in collaboration with our critical stakeholders. Kindly bear with us.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Around 6 pm, our correspondent observed that power generation had been hovering around 1900MW and 1800MW, confirming the gradual restoration of power to the grid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This is about the first time the grid will collapse in 2025 after it experienced a line tripping on January 11. The Transmission Company of Nigeria said the power fluctuations experienced in some parts of the country on January 11 were caused by line trippings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In 2024, the grid collapsed 12 times and over 100 times in 10 years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Reacting later in the evening, the spokesperson of the Transmission Company of Nigeria, Ndidi Mbah, said it was the Omotosho-Ikeja West 330kV transmission line that tripped at the Omotosho end.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
According to her, at the time, the Benin-Egbin 330kV line was on a scheduled outage for mechanical line tracing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe tripping resulted in a cascaded outage affecting the Lagos, Abuja, and Osogbo axis. However all other parts of the grid remained unaffected,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mbah said the line had been successfully restored, and normal power supply had been fully restored to the affected areas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Expressing disappointment over another grid collapse in a new year,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A netizen, Olawale Ajide, called for the sack of the Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, saying the power sector needs a technocrat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt\u2019s time President Tinubu fires the Minister of Power and appoints Professor Nnaji. The present minister is clueless, he doesn\u2019t understand the dynamics of the power sector. President Bola Tinubu must allow a technocrat to work in the sector,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
James Dorbul said Nigerians should prepare for more collapses like what happened in 2024.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt doesn\u2019t seem surprising! With over 12 grid collapses in the past year, we\u2019re bound to experience more until some of the obsolete grid installations are replaced with modern ones. Effective security measures, on the other hand, is germane to checkmate the sabotage\/vandalism,\u201d he stated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This grid collapse came amid fears that the Federal Government would soon hike power tariffs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The President of the Nigeria Consumer Protection Network, Kola Olubiyo, argued that the national grid would continue to collapse if attempts were made to pick a load of 5,800MW or 6,000MW.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He said, \u201cIf you attempt to pick a load of 5,800 MW or 6,000 MW, the grid will collapse. I\u2019m speaking to you in my capacity as a member of the Technical Investigative Panel on Power System Collapses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cSo, from the benefit of insight, I\u2019m saying the grid is stagnated, is limited, and is full of inefficiencies. And between 2013 to date, we have 20 years, but our government has sought enormous foreign loans to invest in the grid.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The consumer rights activist disclosed that the transmission leg of the tripod of the power sector is still in the hands of the government to give justification for obtaining foreign loans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He added, \u201cYet, we\u2019ve not been able to even add 400 MW to the 5,600 MW peak that we have achieved, despite a huge amount of money that is not less than $10bn in the last 10 years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cSo, even when this tariff is increased now, there\u2019s no guarantee that it\u2019s going to come with any improvement in power supply.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Last year, the power minister said there was a need to have power grids in different regions or states to put an end to incessant grid collapses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Adelabu also said grid collapses were almost inevitable in Nigeria given the deplorable state of the country\u2019s power infrastructure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
According to him, having multiple power grids in each region and state would ensure stability.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Electricity consumers have expressed concerns following the collapse of the national grid on Wednesday. Consumers were worried that the grid collapsed at a time when the government was planning to<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":13797,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_rishi_post_view_count":173},"categories":[31],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13796","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","rishi-post"],"rishi__cb_customizer_meta":"","comments_count":"0","yoast_head":"\n