Nigeria’s Grid Supply Falls to 675MW After Multiple Power Plant Outages

Electricity supply on Nigeria’s national grid dropped by 81.5 per cent to 675 megawatts (MW) at 1pm on Monday after the number of power plants supplying the grid fell sharply, triggering supply warnings from electricity distribution companies.

The grid’s output declined from 3,647MW at noon to 675MW an hour later, representing a loss of 2,972MW within 60 minutes.

Data from the Nigerian Independent System Operator (NISO) indicated that 21 power plants were supplying electricity to the national grid before the disruption. By 1pm, however, only 12 plants remained on the grid.

Azura, Egbin, Jebba and Kainji hydroelectric power plants were among those reported to have gone offline.

The incident came after electricity generation had reached 4,331MW at 1am and 4,458MW at 6am. Supply later declined to 3,647MW by noon before plunging to 675MW at 1pm.

Generation began to recover later in the day, reaching 2,150MW by 5pm. Although this was 1,475MW higher than the 1pm figure, it remained well below the level recorded earlier in the morning.

The disruption led Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC) and Ikeja Electric to issue notices informing customers about constraints affecting electricity supply.

AEDC said the interruption resulted from a grid-related challenge affecting power supplied by the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN).

According to the company, TCN’s technical team was working to restore grid stability, while electricity supply was gradually returning to its feeders.

“We assure you that efforts are ongoing to restore full supply across our franchise area as soon as the situation permits,” AEDC said, apologising for the inconvenience caused to customers.

Ikeja Electric also reported reduced supply across its network, attributing the situation to a decline in the volume of electricity allocated to it from the national grid.

The distribution company said it was working with relevant stakeholders to improve supply. It added that the available electricity would continue to be distributed as efficiently and equitably as possible.

However, NISO later announced that the national grid had been stabilised following multiple trippings on the 330-kilovolt (kV) transmission network.

In its statement on Monday, the system operator said the incident occurred at approximately 12:40pm on October 19, 2026.

NISO said it immediately introduced corrective measures in collaboration with TCN to stabilise the system and return operations to normal.

The operator subsequently confirmed that restoration efforts had been completed and the national grid had returned to normal operation.

It stressed that the incident affected only a section of the grid, cautioning against unverified reports and claims that suggested the entire grid had been affected.

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