Blackout looms in Lagos due to grid instability – THIS UPDATE

By Ayo Kehinde

The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) has launched emergency recovery efforts following a voltage instability on the national grid that disrupted electricity supply in Lagos and its environs on Thursday, causing disruption of major transmission lines and temporary loss of power from some generating stations.

The disturbance, which occurred around 8.19am, quickly spread across the Lagos electricity corridor, triggering transmission line outages and causing widespread power outages in Nigeria’s commercial hub.

TCN disclosed the development in a statement released on Thursday by its Director General, Public Affairs, Mrs Ndidi Mbah, stressing that immediate measures have been activated to stabilize the national grid and prevent wider disruption to the system.

According to the company, the National Control Center promptly ordered several power companies to reduce their production in response to the sharp increase in system frequency caused by the accident.

The intervention, TCN explained, is necessary to contain instability, restore the operational balance of the network and prevent further interruptions to electricity supply across the country.

In response to the development, the Minister of Energy, Chief Joseph Tegbe, called an emergency meeting with the leadership of TCN and the Nigerian Independent System Operator (NISO) to coordinate recovery efforts and assess the immediate and long-term implications of the incident.

The company said one of the major transmission assets affected by the disturbance, the 330 kV Benin-Egbin transmission line, has already been restored and is currently transporting large quantities of electricity to the Lagos axis.

TCN, however, noted that engineers in the Benin and Omotosho sub-regions are still working to rectify faults on the 330 kV Benin-Omotosho transmission line, which remains critical to the complete restoration of electricity supply to Lagos and neighboring areas.

“We are pleased to report that one of the affected lines, the 330 kV Benin-Egbin transmission line, which was opened during the incident, has already been restored and is currently transmitting large amounts of electricity. A combined team of TCN engineers from the Benin and Omotosho sub-regions are working assiduously to rectify the remaining faults on the 330 kV Benin-Omotosho transmission line,” the statement read.

The transmission company apologized to residents, businesses and electricity consumers affected by the outage, expressing regret for the inconvenience and economic losses caused by the outage.

He assured Nigerians that the Ministry of Energy and all relevant agencies are working round the clock to restore normal power transmission through the affected line and bring the Lagos complex back to full operational capacity.

TCN also said that efforts are underway to strengthen the resilience of the national grid and minimize the recurrence of similar incidents, stressing that grid stability remains a top priority for the government and energy sector operators.

The company has appealed to affected consumers to remain patient as the repair work continues, promising to provide further updates as the restoration progresses.

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