Nigeria restoring power after nationwide blackouts

• 7 months ago (2023-09-15)
• David Flin

Africa 303 Transmission 181

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Nigeria’s electricity distribution companies reported “a total system collapse” on 14 September as a result of a fire on a major transmission line. This caused widespread blackouts across the whole country, and power is slowly being restored.

Adebayo Adelabu, Nigeria’s Minister for Power, said the fire had caused an explosion on a transmission line connecting the Kainji and Jebba power plants in Niger state, tripping the grid. He said: “The fire has been fully arrested and over half the connections are now up and the rest will be soon be fully restored.”

The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) said that power generation fell to zero in the early hours, but had risen to 1341 MW by 1400 GMT, still well below the daily average of 4100 MW. Nigeria has a total installed capacity of 12 500 MW.