NIGERIA’S POWER GRID FAILS AGAIN

Widespread blackouts were reported in Nigeria on Thursday when the country’s power grid had a total system collapse.

The Transmission Company of Nigeria said that power generation fell to zero in the early hours, but had eventually risen to 273 megawatts (MW) by 10:30. It was still way below the daily average of 4,100 MW needed.

This isn’t the first time that the entire country was left in darkness. In 2022, the grid collapsed at least four times. At the time, authorities blamed it on technical problems.

President Bola Tinubu has now allowed state governments to build their own power plants with the hope that it might help the slow economic growth and improve supply.

Africa’s biggest economy can learn something from South Africa’s loadshedding tactic. For decades, Eskom has warned that loadshedding is necessary to avoid a national grid collapse like what’s being experienced in Nigeria.

Loadshedding manages the imbalance between supply and demand.

Authorities have warned that it could take weeks to get the entire grid up and running again.

Image credit: The Guardian Nigeria