Nigeria, Africa’s largest economy and leading oil producer, has been struggling to supply the basic needs of Nigerians, like power, clean water, access to education and good roads. The country continues to face significant power difficulties among others.
Many Nigerians are familiar with the term ‘national grid’ due to its incessant collapse, which has become regular news in Nigeria.
According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), 140 million people in Nigeria lack access to electricity, constituting 71 per cent of the country’s population. Addressing this energy shortfall is critical, but the challenge extends beyond electrification.
In Nigeria, electrical power generated by the Generation Companies (GenCos) is used to power the grid through the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN). Electricity is distributed through the transmission of electric power from TCN to the distribution companies (DisCos) primary substations, then to the secondary distribution system, and finally to the end consumers.
Explaining power grid
A power grid (or electricity network) is an interconnected network for electricity delivery from producers to consumers. Electrical grids consist of power stations, electrical substations to step voltage up or down, electric power transmission to carry power over long distances, and electric power distribution to consumers.
Electrical grids vary in size and can cover whole countries or continents. From small to large, there are microgrids, wide-area synchronous grids, and supergrids.
The combined transmission and distribution network is part of electricity delivery, known as the power grid. These plants are managed by generation companies (GenCos), independent power providers, and Niger Delta Holding Company.
Why does Nigeria’s power grid collapse so often?
TheRadar spoke with a Council for the Regulations of Engineering in Nigeria (COREN) certified electrical engineer who preferred to be anonymous. The engineer likened the power grid to a small generator expected to power a fridge.
“Imagine a small generator (I beta pass my neighbour) that has a power rating of 0.9Kilovolt-Amps(KVA). It can carry a load of 900 Kilowatts(watts), but if it is used to power a fridge of 1500 watts, the sound of the generator will go up because the load is more than the energy the generator generates.
“Also, when a generator is turned on, the sound is always high until you switch your change over to the generator; then the sound will become stable; this is because the load has been put on the generator,” he said.
He further explained, "The two main causes of power grid collapse are either under or over frequency.
“The normal frequency in Nigeria is 50 Hertz (HZ) and an allowance of 0.5. Once it passes 50.5, it becomes over frequency, and if it goes below 49.5, it becomes under frequency.”
“The problem plaguing Nigeria is over frequency, where the demand is more than what it is producing. This is the main reason the power grid collapses in Nigeria, but it isn't necessarily the only reason,” he added.
Speaking with BusinessDay, a power sector analyst, Habu Sadiek, explained that when the grid collapses, it is not necessarily a bad thing. It only shuts down for safety and security reasons, like a circuit breaker would to protect people from potential injury or damage.
He said: “If the current power generation is 4000MWh and people are using all 4000MWh, then supply is equal to demand, and frequency should be 50Hz. This is a perfect condition that is highly unlikely.”
“If we generate 4000MWh and people use 3700 Mwh, then obviously, supply is higher than demand, and for that reason, the frequency will show you 51Hz. If we generate 4000MWh and people try to use 4200MWh, demand is higher than supply, and for that reason, the frequency will show 49Hz.
“TCN is a government-owned entity that majorly operates in three different departments; the Transmission Service Provider (TSP), which is in charge of maintaining the cables and towers that transmit the power; the System Operator (SO), which is in charge of maintaining and stabilising the national grid and the Market Operator (MO) which handles market processes, rules, enforcement, finances, etc.
“The Nigerian national grid is set to operate on a designated frequency level. Upper limit - 51.25Hz, and the Lower limit - 48.75Hz. The job of an S.O. is to make sure that the frequency movement is in between these 2 levels.
“Any significant deviation from these 2 levels, i.e., if it exceeds the threshold above or below it, such might trigger a national grid collapse.
“This is why the grid will collapse, and they will restart it before the news even goes out. By the time it’s in the news, some people will be saying, but we have light.
“I need to also mention that some power plants are not connected to the grid, and there is partial collapse and system-wide collapse. These can also be the reason why someone from a faraway remote location can be claiming to have light when the grid collapses.”
Nigeria is the most populous country in Africa. As of 2020, its population amounted to just over 200 million. A high volume of production is expected to meet the electrical energy needs of individuals in Nigeria.
The electricity sector in Nigeria generates, transmits and distributes megawatts(MW) of electric power that is significantly less than what is needed to meet basic household and industrial needs.
Nigeria has 26 power-generating plants connected to the national grid with the capacity to generate 11,165.4 MW of electricity.
According to the National Bureau of Statistics, “As of 2023, the electricity demand in Nigeria amounted to over 40 terawatt hours.” This followed an upward trend observed since 2020.
However, the electricity supply was 6,432 gigawatts (Gwh) in Q4 2023 from 5,732 (Gwh) in the previous quarter. On a year-on-year basis, the electricity supply increased by 14.64 per cent compared to 5,611 (Gwh) reported in Q4 2022.
The implications of this can not be overstated. One is the poor electricity provided to Nigerians. This has effects on the country from individual to economic. Individuals spend vast amounts of money trying to make up for the blackout by buying fuel that is already unaffordable.
National grid did not collapse, Adelabu clarifies cause of power outage
Meanwhile, TheRadar earlier reported that the Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, claimed the power grid did not collapse. This counters earlier reports indicating that it had collapsed again on Tuesday amid ongoing restoration efforts following the initial breakdown on Monday evening.
Adelabu clarified that the incident was not a grid collapse but a line tripping in specific areas across the country during an interview on Tuesday, October 15.