Electricity supply across Lagos has been severely disrupted following the sudden shutdown of the Egbin Power Station and a simultaneous fault on a major transmission line, according to the Nigerian Independent System Operator (NISO).
In a statement issued on Thursday, NISO revealed that the disturbance occurred around 8:21 p.m. on April 28, when Egbin’s power generation abruptly dropped from about 641 megawatts to zero. The outage was traced to critical equipment failures, including a damaged central compressor and a malfunction in the circulating water pump system, forcing a complete shutdown of the plant to prevent further damage.
The situation was further worsened by the outage of the Osogbo–Ikeja West 330kV transmission line, a key route for delivering electricity into Lagos. This has significantly limited the amount of power that can be transmitted to the state, creating a major supply shortfall.
As a result, operators have implemented load-shedding measures to stabilise the national grid and avoid a total system collapse. Emergency steps are also being taken to redistribute available electricity, with priority given to critical infrastructure, while efforts continue to ramp up generation from other power plants.
NISO apologised to consumers, particularly those in Lagos and nearby areas, assuring that stakeholders are working urgently to restore normal supply.
Egbin Power Station, located in Ikorodu, remains Nigeria’s largest thermal power plant and a major contributor to the national grid. Its outage underscores the vulnerability of the country’s power infrastructure, where failures in key facilities can quickly lead to widespread blackouts.