RipplesMetrics: What data say about Nigeria’s electricity and blackouts

More than 180 million Nigerians are not yet connected to the country’s national grid, as data from the National Bureau of Statistics show that the total number of customers on the electricity feeder was 12.33 million as of the second quarter of 2024.

This might be connected to poor electricity generation that can comfortably feed more than 200 million people living in the country. An estimation of over 90 per cent of Nigerians do not have access to electricity.

As of now, Nigeria’s Electricity Distribution Company offers its service through two processes; metering and estimated billing. While metered customers as of the second quarter stood at 5.92 million, customers on the estimated bill are 7.07 million.

In the last six months, there have been significant improvements in the number of customers being transferred into the metering electricity scheme, but it appears that the number of customers on the estimated bills is also significantly increasing. This proves more customers who were added to the electric feed are being charged estimated bills.

While access to electricity poses a major setback for Nigeria, more than 12 million customers who are connected to the 5,769.52 Gwh supplied in the second quarter of 2024, generated a total of N683,338 million as revenue for the 11 Discos in the first six months of this year.

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Beyond the poor generation and customers, the Nigerian power sector has also been faced with several blackouts that have questioned the capacity of the federal government to provide electricity, which is a basic essential for production in the economy. In the last week, Nigeria faced three blackouts, as announced by the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN).

This action forced the federal government to inaugurate a forensic committee to probe the repeated occurrence. The system collapse was the seventh this year, according to a report by Ripples Nigeria.

Blackout trends in Nigeria

Between 2010 and October 14, 2024, Nigeria’s power grid suffered a staggering 230 collapses, comprising: 161 total grid collapses, resulting in complete nationwide power outages and 69 partial grid collapses, affecting specific regions or sections of the country

This alarming frequency of grid failures underscores the persistent challenges plaguing Nigeria’s power sector over the last 14 years.

RipplesMetrics’ check on the data gathered from TCN showed that Nigeria had its worst downtime between 2010 and 2018, recording total grid collapses, averaging 15- 20 collapses annually. Although the average figure dropped, improvements in the power sector were initiated. If the power collapses again before the year runs out, it would be the highest blackout recorded in the last four years.

By: James Odunayo

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