Nigerians were once again plunged into darkness on Wednesday, December 11, 2024, as the country’s power grid collapsed for the 12th time this year. The latest outage occurred around 1:33 p.m. due to a system disturbance that led to a total loss of power supply across multiple states. This incident comes just a month after the national grid experienced a similar breakdown in November.

According to reports from electricity distribution companies, the collapse was caused by a failure in the transmission lines, often attributed to issues such as over or under-frequency in the system. As of 2 p.m. on Wednesday, all power plants were down, with the grid failing to produce any electricity despite a combined output of approximately 3,087 megawatts earlier in the day.

Several distribution companies, including Jos Electricity Distribution Company (Jos Disco), Eko Electricity Distribution Company (EKEDC), and Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC), confirmed the outage. In statements issued to customers, they cited the loss of power supply from the national grid as the reason for the widespread outage.

The Jos Disco expressed hope that normal power supply would be restored once the grid supply was back to normal, while EKEDC assured customers that it was working with partners to restore the grid as quickly as possible. AEDC also confirmed the system disturbance and informed customers that gradual restoration of power had already begun.

The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), which operates the national grid, has yet to issue an official statement regarding the cause of the outage or provide a timeline for full restoration.

This latest grid collapse highlights ongoing challenges in Nigeria’s power sector, including issues with electricity policy, regulatory uncertainty, gas supply, and transmission constraints. Despite efforts to improve the power sector, Nigerians continue to face frequent and widespread power outages, raising concerns about the stability and reliability of the national grid.