Thursday’s outage affects all 36 Nigerian states and the capital Abuja.
“A total system collapse” has resulted in widespread power outages across Nigeria, Africa’s largest economy.
Thursday’s outage affected all 36 Nigerian states and the capital Abuja.
The electricity grid has collapsed several times and it was not clear when power would be restored.
The Enugu Electricity Distribution Company, which supplies electricity to southeastern Nigeria, has issued a statement announcing a “total system” collapse.
“Due to this development, we are unable to provide service to our customers,” said company spokesperson Emeka Ezeh.
Electricity generation fell to zero early on Thursday and had risen to 273 megawatts (MW) by 1030 GMT, well below the daily average of 4,100 MW, data from the Transmission Company of Nigeria showed.
“Power supply will be restored once power is restored to the national grid,” the Kaduna Electricity Distribution Company, which supplies power to parts of northern Nigeria, said in a statement.
Electricity supply in Nigeria, a major oil and gas producer, is erratic, forcing households and businesses to use diesel and gasoline generators.
However, petrol and diesel prices have more than doubled this year after the government ended decades of subsidies, and many households and businesses have struggled to find alternative energy sources.
In 2022, Nigeria’s power grid collapsed at least four times, which authorities blamed on technical problems.
Nigeria has 12,500 MW of installed capacity, but produces about a quarter of that.
President Bola Tinubu has promised to improve supply by allowing state governments to build their own power plants in a bid to boost sluggish economic growth.