File photo: Minister of Power, Joseph Tegbe
The Federal Government says it has restored electricity supply to several areas in Lagos, Ogun, Oyo and Kwara states, and the Federal Capital Territory, following disruptions caused partly by the vandalism of a critical 330-kilovolt transmission line.
The Minister of Power, Joseph Tegbe, disclosed this in an update posted on social media on Monday, saying the affected Benin-Egbin transmission line had been repaired and returned to service.
The restoration has increased electricity supply to the Lagos Complex to more than 1,000 megawatts, bringing the system back to the level recorded before the disruption.
The development comes amid renewed concerns over the vulnerability of Nigeria’s electricity transmission infrastructure and the recurring interruptions that have left homes, businesses and public institutions without reliable power.
The minister said, “I would like to report that power has since been restored to many of the areas earlier affected by power disruptions, largely in Lagos, Ogun, Oyo, Kwara and the FCT. Our teams continue to work to restore full supply to the remaining affected locations.
“The vandalised Benin-Egbin 330kV power line has also been swiftly repaired and deployed to transmit power. This restoration helped to bring the total power supply to the Lagos Complex to over 1,000 megawatts, effectively normalising to the condition before the disruption.”
He added that the ministry was working with generation companies, the system operator, the Transmission Company of Nigeria and electricity distribution companies to prevent further deterioration in supply.
The latest update follows an earlier explanation by Tegbe that planned maintenance at Egbin Power Station, inadequate gas supply to some thermal power plants and damage to critical transmission infrastructure had combined to reduce electricity available on the national grid.
In his earlier statement last Friday, the minister acknowledged the hardship caused by the outages, particularly for households and businesses in Lagos and the FCT.
“Planned maintenance at Egbin Power Station and constraints in gas supply to some thermal power stations have reduced the amount of electricity available on the national grid. Grid operators have, therefore, implemented load shedding in some areas to manage the shortfall,” he said.
Tegbe had also disclosed that sabotage of key transmission lines restricted the use of alternative routes for delivering electricity, particularly to Lagos.
The minister had promised that affected generating units would return to service in phases, with the first units expected to resume operation within 48 to 72 hours.
The restoration of the Benin-Egbin line is significant because the Lagos electricity network depends on multiple transmission routes to receive bulk power from generating stations. Damage to one route can reduce the amount of electricity available to the Lagos transmission complex, particularly when other sources of supply are constrained.
However, Nigerians, including civil society organisations, are still complaining about the epileptic electricity supply and have called for the minister’s resignation over what they described as persistent electricity outages across the country.
They accused him of incompetence and failure to address the worsening power situation.
The minister further disclosed on Monday that the government was working to restore another important transmission route, the Osogbo-Ikeja West 330kV line, which has remained out of service for about 18 months.
Tegbe said the line could deliver an additional 400MW to Lagos but had been affected by the vandalism of about six transmission towers located in a swampy area.
He said the government had secured a commitment from the TCN to complete the restoration by the end of November.
According to him, Lagos has four major transmission lines, but only three were operational, leaving the electricity network with limited alternatives during periods of disruption.
Tegbe also disclosed that the combined impact of the Egbin maintenance and the vandalised Benin-Egbin line resulted in the loss of almost 800MW from the Lagos electricity supply system.
He said the Benin-Egbin line ordinarily delivers between 300MW and 400MW to the Lagos Complex. The restoration of the line, alongside the return of generating units, was expected to improve electricity supply across Lagos and the Ogun corridor.
Last week, the Nigerian Independent System Operator, in a statement on Thursday, attributed the recent decline in power generation to gas supply constraints affecting thermal power plants and reduced water inflows into hydroelectric reservoirs.
The operator explained that the shortage of gas had prevented some thermal power stations from operating at their available capacity, while lower water inflows had affected hydroelectric generation.
It said, “Consequently, the reduction in available generation has affected the quantum of electricity allocated to Distribution Companies (DisCos) for onward supply to consumers, thereby resulting in reduced hours of electricity supply and increased load shedding across distribution networks, with the level of impact varying according to available generation and the corresponding allocations to individual DisCos.”
The situation was reflected in the electricity allocation to distribution companies, which received a combined 2,988MW from 3,840MW generated on the national grid on Wednesday, November 4.
The latest restoration announcement therefore offers relief to electricity consumers in the affected areas, but the return of the vandalised transmission line does not automatically guarantee uninterrupted supply.
Nigeria’s electricity supply remains constrained by inadequate generation, gas shortages, ageing transmission infrastructure, vandalism and distribution challenges.
Tegbe, however, said the government was working with operators across the electricity value chain to improve supply.
“Our priority continues to be the provision of reliable electricity to Nigerians,” he said.
