By Nchetachi Chukwuajah
Nigeria’s national power grid is being restored gradually a few hours after it collapsed for the first time in 2026, causing a nationwide blackout.
According to data from the Nigerian Independent System Operator (NISO), all 23 power generation plants connected to the grid reportedly lost output on Friday morning, resulting in electricity generation dropping to zero megawatts (MW) during the incident on Friday, January 23.
NISO also confirmed that load allocation to all 11 electricity distribution companies (DisCos) fell to zero MW as of 1 p.m. on Friday.
The affected DisCos were Benin, Eko, Enugu, Ikeja, Jos, Kaduna, Kano, Port Harcourt, Ibadan, Abuja, and Yola, all of which received no power supply at the time of the collapse.
However, as of 5:00 p.m., some of the distribution companies had started receiving output, as indications emerged that more outputs would be received before the end of the day.
This grid collapse was earlier in the day confirmed by the Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC) in a public notice shared on its official X handle on Friday.
The notice stated that the power disturbance on the grid occurred at 12:40 pm, adding that gradual restoration of power supply has commenced.
It would be recalled that grid collapses have remained a recurring feature of Nigeria’s energy sector, and have been attributed to a combination of technical faults, inadequate maintenance of transmission lines, and fluctuations in generation capacity.
