By Ayo Kehinde
Nigeria’s national power grid, operated by the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), suffered a system-wide disturbance on Friday afternoon, resulting in widespread power outages across parts of the country.
A statement by the Nigerian Independent System Operator (NISO) said the incident occurred at about 12:40 p.m. when multiple 330kV transmission lines tripped simultaneously, alongside the disconnection of some grid-connected generating units, leading to a collapse of the interconnected network.
The operator said restoration activities commenced shortly after the outage at about 1:15 p.m., in line with established grid recovery procedures.
Electricity distribution firms confirmed the development, with Abuja Electricity Distribution Company informing customers that “gradual restoration of power supply” had commenced.
Similarly, Port Harcourt Electricity Distribution Plc (PHED) issued a public notice attributing the outage across its franchise areas to system disturbances on the national grid.
However, NISO, in a further update, said electricity supply had been restored to Abuja, Osogbo, Benin, Onitsha, Jebba, Kainji, Shiroro and parts of Lagos, with restoration ongoing in other areas.
It added that a detailed investigation into the root and contributory causes of the disturbance is currently underway, while full stabilisation of the grid remains a top operational priority.
The agency assured Nigerians of its commitment to improving grid reliability and minimising future disruptions.
