The Nigerian Independent System Operator (NISO) has explained that the ongoing electricity outages affecting Lagos and nearby areas are due to a major drop in power generation at the Egbin Power Station.
In a statement, NISO revealed that the country’s largest power plant suffered a significant disruption on April 28. Around 8:21 pm, the station’s output suddenly fell from about 641 megawatts to zero following the failure of its central compressor and a malfunction in its circulating water pump system. This forced an emergency shutdown of all generating units.
The situation was worsened by transmission challenges, particularly the outage of the Osogbo–Ikeja West 330kV line, which has limited the flow of electricity into Lagos.
According to NISO, the combined impact of the generation loss and transmission constraint created a major supply gap, making load shedding necessary to stabilise the grid and prevent a broader system failure.
The operator added that contingency measures are already in place, including redistributing available power among distribution companies, with priority given to critical infrastructure. Efforts are also ongoing to boost generation from other power plants.
NISO apologised for the disruption and assured consumers that work is underway to restore normal electricity supply as quickly as possible.