NISO Refutes Claims of National Grid Collapse
By Editor
The management of Nigerian Independent System Operator(NISO) has refuted media reports alleging that a system collapse occurred on the Nigerian National Grid at about 11:54am on Thursday, February 19, 2026, resulting in a total blackout across the South-East region.
The clarification followed a report by Punch Newspaper published on Thursday, February 19, 2026, which claimed that the grid suffered a collapse that plunged the region into darkness.
In a statement issued on February 22, 2026, management categorically stated that no system collapse occurred on the said date and time.
According to the statement, “at approximately 11:47am, a protection trip was recorded on some 330kV transmission lines around the Onitsha Transmission Station. The incident led to a temporary and localized outage affecting certain areas supplied through the impacted transmission corridors, including portions of the Enugu Electricity Distribution Company (EEDC) and Port Harcourt Electricity Distribution Company (PHED) networks.”
However, the statement emphasized that the national grid remained stable and fully operational, with generation across other regions unaffected. It added that system frequency stayed within acceptable operational limits, with no widespread loss of synchronism or nationwide blackout — conditions that would characterize a system collapse.
NISO further disclosed that the affected transmission lines had since been restored and supply reinstated to impacted locations.
While acknowledging the inconvenience experienced by electricity consumers within the affected corridors, the statement urged stakeholders, media organizations, and the public to desist from spreading unverified information and instead rely on technical updates from NISO, described as the only authentic source of information on grid events.
It reaffirmed that the Nigerian National Grid remains operational and under continuous technical supervision to ensure reliability, resilience and system security.
