Homes and businesses across Nigeria plunged into darkness after a major grid disturbance triggered by a power plant tripping incident
Nigeria was once again thrown into widespread darkness on Wednesday following the collapse of the national electricity grid, leaving homes and businesses grappling with severe disruptions. The incident, which occurred around 11:20 a.m. on September 10, 2025, resulted in a sharp drop in power supply and brought economic activities to a near standstill in many parts of the country.
According to the Nigerian Independent System Operator (NISO), the collapse was caused by a tripping incident at one of the country’s power generation companies. The fault triggered a chain reaction that cascaded through other generating plants, leading to a total system disturbance. The grid, which had been supplying over 2,900 megawatts before the incident, dropped drastically, leaving almost all electricity distribution companies (DisCos) without supply.
The development sparked widespread outages across distribution networks, with the Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC) confirming that power supply to its franchise areas was cut off at about 11:23 a.m. “Please be informed that the power outage currently being experienced is due to a loss of supply from the national grid. Be assured, we are working closely with the relevant stakeholders to ensure power is restored once the grid is stabilised,” AEDC said in a statement on its verified X handle.
Further updates from the Nigeria National Grid’s X account revealed that all DisCos across the country, except the Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company, recorded zero megawatts allocation shortly after the collapse. The social media handle noted that system restoration efforts were immediately set in motion.
In its official statement, NISO confirmed that restoration commenced at 11:45 a.m., beginning with supply from the Shiroro Power Plant to Abuja. The agency assured that “substantial recovery” had been achieved nationwide within hours, while a comprehensive investigation is ongoing to determine both the immediate and remote causes of the incident.
“The disturbance was caused by the tripping of a GenCo, resulting in a significant load drop, which cascaded to other GenCos, leading to a system disturbance. NISO immediately commenced restoration of the grid at 11:45 hrs, beginning with supply to Abuja from the Shiroro Power Plant, and substantial restoration has been achieved across the country. A full investigation into the immediate and remote causes is underway. The outcome of the investigation report would determine the remedial and proactive actions to be taken to forestall future occurrences,” the agency said.
The latest collapse adds to the long history of grid failures that have plagued Nigeria’s electricity sector, often leaving citizens and businesses in frustration. For many small and medium-scale enterprises, yesterday’s blackout further deepened operational costs as they were forced to switch to generators and alternative power sources.
Despite repeated assurances from power sector stakeholders of reforms and investments aimed at stabilising the grid, Nigerians continue to experience frequent system disturbances. The recurring outages have raised fresh concerns about the reliability of the nation’s power infrastructure and the need for sustainable solutions to address the persistent challenges.
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