The national grid, again, collapsed on Tuesday night as Ibom Power, Omotosho, Omoku, Okpai, Kainji, Sapele, and Rivers Independent Power Plant (IPP) recorded zero megawatts of power.
However, what happened on Tuesday night was a partial collapse as there was still over 2,000 megawatts (MW) available as of 10:16pm.
This was the fourth time the national grid would collapse in October 2024 and the ninth time this year.
The national power grid collapsed 46 times between 2017 and 2023, according to the International Energy Agency, Economy Post reported.
“Although the country has a total installed capacity of about 13 GW, average available capacity remained around 4.5 GW in 2023 due to a combination of factors such as deteriorating units, poor maintenance and liquidity constraints,” the IEA said.
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“Unreliable power supply due to limited grid infrastructure, underinvestment and ineffective regulatory frameworks have resulted in an estimated 40 per cent of all the electricity consumed in the country being produced from backup generators,” IEA declared,” it added.
Power outages in Northern Nigeria, others
The national grid collapse has persisted amid power outages across Northern Nigeria and the South-East region. Businesses are currently struggling in the three regions of the North and the South-East over power outages. Firms are counting their losses in millions of naira.
A cold room operator in Jalingo, Ms Agatha Solomon, said she had lost over N5 million as her fish deteriorated due to lack of power.
“I lost more than N5 million due to the power failure situation in the North. I could not keep the fish in the cold room with my generator due to high cost of petrol. Even if you put on the generator, how long will you keep it on?” she asked.
An operator of a salon in Kaduna, Mr Phillip Angar, said he now spent over N5,000 daily on petrol.
“Petrol costs more than N1,000 per litre, and I buy at least five litres daily to stay in business,” Mr Angar noted.
The situation is the same in the South-East region, where many complain not to have had electriicity supply for days.
“I now use my generator to run my restaurant for almost 15 hours every day. I spend up to N15,000 on petrol every day now,” said a restaurant operator in Nnewi, Anambra State, Ms Sylvia Ogenine.
Atiku, Obi, Kwankwaso speak
Prtominent politicians have waded into the matter. Presidential candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in the 2023 election, Mr Atiku Abubakar, said on his X account on Monday that, “The electricity power crisis in Nigeria continues to be a matter of immense concern.”
“In particular, the reference is the situations in both the Southeast and the entire states of the Northwest and Northeast that have been in complete blackouts in the past three weeks,” said Atiku.
The former vice president urged the Nigerian government to adopt a mix of renewable energy (hydro, solar, wind, and biofuels) and non-renewable energy (coal, gas) sources as opportunities existed in different parts of the country.
On his part, Labour Party candidate in the 2023 presidential election, Mr Peter Obi, said: “The negative impact of the continued power outage on businesses, especially small businesses, who depend primarily on public power supply to sustain their businesses as a means of livelihood, is unimaginable.
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“I have consistently maintained that solving Nigeria’s power and energy crisis is not rocket science. Many of our comparable peer nations have demonstrated how possible it is to provide sustainable power for their citizens.
“Our African neighbour, Egypt, for example, invested aggressively in their power sector, which resulted in the establishment of sustainable power infrastructure by way of many power stations.”
He said Egypt had revolutionised power and energy production in the country, providing sustainable power to millions of small businesses, accounting for over 90 percent of active enterprises in the country and contributing to over 80 percent of their gross domnestic product (GDP).
Also, the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP) candidate in the 2023 presidential election, Mr Rabiu Kwankwaso, called on the Nigerian government to address issues of pipeline vandalism and theft, urging stakeholders in the electricity sector to look into alternative power sources to address Nigeria’s energy needs.
“I wish to encourage all state governments and private investors to invest in alternative electricity sources, just like we did in Kano by installing two turbines in the Challawa Gorge and Tiga Dams in order to reduce the reliance on our inadequate and aged energy sources,” he noted.
