Energy production plummets from 3,840 MW to 477 MW – THIS UPDATE

By Ayo Kehinde

Nigeria’s electricity supply system suffered a dramatic shock on Monday, as power generation plummeted by around 88%, from around 3,840 megawatts (MW) at 7am to 476.70MW by 1pm, with several major generating plants recording zero output.

The sharp drop triggered electricity outages in some parts of the country and renewed concerns about the reliability of the nation’s power system, which has suffered repeated outages and generation shortages.

Data from the Nigerian Independent System Operator (NISO) real-time generation portal, niggrid.orgshowed that electricity production remained relatively stable throughout the morning before dropping sharply around 12:40 p.m.

According to the dashboard, more than 3,300 MW of production disappeared from the grid in just a few hours.

At 1pm reading, only a handful of power plants were supplying electricity to the grid, with Odukpani NIPP, Omotosho and Sapele among those recording limited production.

Major power plants, including Egbin, Jebba, Shiroro and Kainji, recorded zero output, along with several gas-fired generating plants.

At about 1:23 p.m., the NISO dashboard showed real-time production of about 480 MW, with only five generation companies recording electricity production.

The sharp drop coincided with reports of power outages, as electricity consumers in several locations took to social media to complain about the outages between about 12.45pm and 1.20pm.

Despite the dramatic decline in production, NISO rejected suggestions that the national grid had collapsed.

It maintained that there was no evidence of a system-wide network disturbance at the time and indicated that its technical team was working to establish the cause of the unusual drop.

“There are no disturbances at the moment. Probably if something is going on, maybe it’s a local problem, but there’s nothing on the grid, some of these things are going off or other minor problems that, within a few minutes, you see it’s resolved,” a senior NISO official

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