By Our Reporter
The Federal Government has announced the restoration of electricity supply to several parts of Lagos, Ogun, Oyo and Kwara states, as well as the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), following the repair of a vandalised 330-kilovolt transmission line that contributed to a loss of nearly 800 megawatts (MW) in the Lagos electricity supply network.
The Minister of Power, Joseph Tegbe, disclosed this on Monday, confirming that the damaged Benin-Egbin 330kV transmission line had been repaired and restored to operation.
He said the intervention had raised electricity supply to the Lagos Complex to more than 1,000MW, effectively returning the network to its pre-disruption capacity.
According to the minister, electricity supply has been restored to many of the affected communities, while efforts are ongoing to normalise supply in the remaining areas.
Tegbe said the government was working with electricity generation companies, the Nigerian Independent System Operator (NISO), the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) and distribution companies to address the disruptions.
“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 said.
The minister had earlier attributed the decline in electricity supply to a combination of scheduled maintenance at Egbin Power Station, inadequate gas supply to thermal power plants and the vandalism of critical transmission infrastructure.
He explained that these challenges significantly reduced electricity available on the national grid, forcing system operators to introduce load shedding across affected distribution networks.
The situation was further worsened by damage to transmission infrastructure, which restricted alternative routes for transmitting electricity to Lagos.
Tegbe also disclosed that the government was working to restore the Osogbo-Ikeja West 330kV transmission line, which has remained out of service for approximately 18 months.
The line has the capacity to deliver an additional 400MW to Lagos, but its rehabilitation has been delayed by the vandalism of about six transmission towers located in a swampy area.
He said TCN had committed to completing the restoration by the end of November.
The minister further explained that Lagos has four major transmission lines, but only three are currently operational, leaving the electricity network vulnerable to disruptions whenever one of its major transmission routes develops a fault.
He had estimated that the combined effects of maintenance work at Egbin Power Station and the vandalised Benin-Egbin transmission line accounted for nearly 800MW in lost electricity supply to Lagos.
Meanwhile, NISO identified inadequate gas supply to thermal power stations and reduced water inflows into hydroelectric reservoirs as major factors responsible for the wider decline in electricity generation.
The system operator said the constraints had reduced electricity allocations to distribution companies, resulting in fewer hours of supply and increased load shedding across their networks.
Data showed that electricity distribution companies received a combined allocation of 2,988MW out of the 3,840MW generated on the national grid on Wednesday, November 4.
Despite the latest restoration efforts, concerns remain over the reliability of Nigeria’s electricity infrastructure, with consumers continuing to contend with inadequate generation, gas supply constraints, transmission bottlenecks and distribution inefficiencies.
The prolonged power disruptions have also drawn criticism from civil society organisations and electricity consumers, some of whom have called for the resignation of the Minister of Power over the government’s handling of the persistent electricity crisis.
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