Nigeria’s electricity grid system suffered another collapse Tuesday around 11 am plunging the country into darkness and though parts of the grid were restored in the evening, large swaths of electricity users remained in darkness for most of Tuesday.

When contacted Ndidi Mba , General Manager of Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) confirmed this even though she is yet to provide details of what led to the collapse.

The TCN which manages the grid did respond to request to provide clarifications but some power distribution companies confirmed that they did not receive generation between 11 am and 2pm.

Eko Electricity sent messages to its customers saying that a feeder system has been damaged and was responsible for the blackout after parts of the grid system have been restored.

According to data from the Nigerian Electricity System Operator, an arm of the TCN, at around 6 am 2,774MW of electricity was generated and distributed before the grid collapse

Nigeria’s unstable power grid collapses when there is too little or too much generation and sometimes, inclement weather or disruption to its stations has led to collapse in the past.

Power generation companies could produce over 12,000MW but the most they can generate is around 5,000mw due to difficulties getting gas supply.

The TCN says its transmission lines are capable of wheeling 8,000MW but the most it does, in reality, is less than 5,000MW and frequently unstable.

Culled from Businessday