Experts alarmed by repeated grid failures, call for power grid decentralisation
By Yunus Yusuf
Some power sector experts have expressed deep concern over the recurring collapse of Nigeria’s national electricity grid, urging the Federal Government to urgently decentralise the country’s power infrastructure to improve reliability and efficiency.
The experts spoke in separate interviews on Wednesday in Lagos, following another nationwide blackout triggered by a system collapse on Tuesday.
lt would be recalled that the latest incident marked the second grid failure within a week, coming just days after a similar collapse.
It also coincided with the Federal Government’s signing of a ₦501.021 billion bond under the ₦4 trillion Power Sector Multi-Instrument Issuance Programme, designed to settle legacy debts owed to electricity generation companies (Gencos).
Data from the Nigerian Independent System Operator (NISO) showed that power generation dropped to zero megawatts at about 11:00 a.m., plunging the entire country into darkness.
Distribution companies, including Benin, Eko and Ibadan electricity distribution companies (Discos), confirmed zero power allocations during the outage, disrupting economic and social activities nationwide.
The repeated failures have renewed concerns over the fragility of Nigeria’s electricity transmission infrastructure.
As of the time of filing this report, neither the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) nor NISO had issued an official explanation on the cause of the collapse or a timeline for full restoration.
Although electricity supply has gradually returned to some areas, the impact of the outage remains widespread.
Speaking on the development, an energy expert, Dr Olukayode Akinrolabu, said Nigeria’s power sector requires urgent structural reforms, including grid decentralisation, renewable energy integration and market restructuring.
According to him, decentralising the grid would empower states to regulate their electricity markets, attract private investment and promote renewable energy solutions such as solar mini-grids, thereby reducing dependence on fossil fuels.
Akinrolabu noted that ongoing market reforms, including the establishment of NISO, were intended to improve operational efficiency and restore investor confidence, but stressed that more must be done.
“To stabilise the grid, the power sector should be segmented by states to allow for manageable power volumes and more effective system control,.
Akinrolabu, who also chairs the Customer Consultative Forum for Festac and Satellite Town called for the immediate upgrade of Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) systems for real-time monitoring, expansion of transmission lines, and rehabilitation of ageing infrastructure.
“The national grid has become technically complex due to its extensive connectivity, making it extremely difficult to manage,” he said.
He added that the Bola Tinubu administration could improve grid performance by investing in modern transmission infrastructure, adopting a state-centric coordination model among power operators, and strengthening regulatory enforcement at the sub-national level to attract investment.
Corroborating his views, Mr Cdon Adinuba, a communications consultant with Geometric Power Company, said Nigeria’s transmission network required massive investment, describing it as obsolete and poorly maintained.
Adinuba observed that the grid frequently collapses whenever power generation exceeds 5,000 megawatts, leaving much of the country’s estimated 13,000 megawatts installed generation capacity grossly underutilised.
He welcomed the Federal Government’s renewed interest in developing a second national grid, an idea originally proposed by former Power Minister, Prof. Bart Nnaji, and approved by the Federal Executive Council in 2012.
According to him, the plan includes the construction of a 765 kilovolt (KV) super grid capable of transmitting significantly more power than the existing 330KV and 132KV lines.
“The proposed grid is to be regionalised, not along political or geopolitical lines, but as an operational necessity,” he said.
“It will function in segments, so that faults can be isolated and resolved without shutting down the entire country, unlike the current system where a minor fault triggers a nationwide blackout.”
