Nigeria’s Blackout Nightmare Worsens as 16 Major Power Plants Down to Zero MW

● Freezing Freezers No More Freezing?: Nigeria’s Power Falls By 62%; Egbin, Jebba, Kainji, 13 Others’ Shut Down to Zero MW Raising Fresh Questions on Power Minister Tegbe’s Freezer Are Freezing Claim

Nigeria’s electricity crisis has deepened into darkness.

On Monday, 16 power plants recorded zero generation, triggering widespread blackouts and worsening hardship for households and businesses across the country.

The affected plants are not small names. They include some of Nigeria’s biggest generating stations — Egbin, Geregu NIPP, Olorunsogo NIPP, Jebba, Kainji, Okpai, Rivers IPP, Trans Afam Power, Afam III Fast, Alaoji NIPP, Delta, GPAL, Ihovbor, MEPP and TAOPEX.

Sixteen plants, zero megawatt. A complete shutdown.

The dashboard of the Nigeria Independent System Operator (NISO) showed that total real-time electricity generation had fallen to 2,033.66MW as at 3pm yesterday, with only 13 generating plants reporting output.

The development represents a sharp decline from the 5,403MW available on September 24, amounting to a drop of more than 3,300MW, or about 62 per cent, in less than two weeks. Nigeria lost over half its power in 12 days.

The collapse has compounded the already difficult power situation, particularly in Lagos and other major urban centres where diesel costs are killing businesses.

In Lagos, several communities and businesses under the Ikeja Electric franchise area were without electricity as at 5pm yesterday, with consumers uncertain about when supply would be restored. Inverters are dead, freezers are warm, factories are silent.

The latest deterioration comes against the backdrop of recent assurances by the Minister of Power, Mr Joseph Tegbe, that Nigerians were beginning to experience noticeable improvements in electricity supply.

Speaking at the commissioning of the 3MW solar hybrid power project at Yakubu Gowon University, formerly University of Abuja, Tegbe said he had been receiving positive feedback from electricity consumers.

According to him, some communities that had previously gone for months without electricity were now receiving as much as 18 hours of supply daily.

“Places that didn’t have light at all for three months are now having 18 hours light. Some areas called me to say, look, I should slow down, that everything in their freezer is freezing. That is what freezer is meant to do,” he said.

But on Monday, freezers were not freezing. They were defrosting. The 18-hour claim melted before the 2,033MW reality.

Tegbe had recalled that during his Senate screening, he promised Nigerians would begin to see noticeable improvements in electricity supply within three to six months. On Monday, they saw noticeable darkness.

Source: Platforms Africa