Canada
This article was added by the user . TheWorldNews is not responsible for the content of the platform.

Nigeria suffers widespread blackouts after electricity grid fails

Author of the article:

Reuters

Reuters

LAGOS — Nigeria’s national electricity grid collapsed on Monday leaving many parts of the country without power, electricity distribution companies said.

The grid has collapsed at least four times this year, which authorities blame on technical problems. Last month workers from the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) went on strike and temporarily shut the grid.

Sign up to receive the daily top stories from the National Post, a division of Postmedia Network Inc.

By clicking on the sign up button you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. You may unsubscribe any time by clicking on the unsubscribe link at the bottom of our emails. Postmedia Network Inc. | 365 Bloor Street East, Toronto, Ontario, M4W 3L4 | 416-383-2300

Electricity distribution firms, known as Discos, said the outage happened earlier on Monday and they were working with TCN to restore supplies. They did not state the cause of the outage.

Nigeria has installed capacity of 12,500 megawatts but produces about a quarter of that, leaving many Nigerians and businesses reliant on diesel-powered generators. Diesel prices have soared since the start of the year.

The nation’s sclerotic power grid, and its precarious energy supply, are often cited by businesses as a key issue hindering growth in Africa’s most populous country. (Reporting by MacDonald Dzirutwe; Editing by Toby Chopra)