Residents in some parts of Lagos and Ogun states have been plunged into total darkness for the past 24 hours, following a recent fire incident that engulfed the Egbin Power Plant in Lagos, The ICIR has observed.
The incident, which occurred at approximately 6:30 a.m. on August 5, affected the 150MVA power transformer of the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) at its Egbin Transmission Substation.
It has temporarily led to a reduction in bulk power supply to Ikorodu and Odogunyan 132/33kV transmission substations, which supply Ikeja Electricity Distribution Company (IKEDC) and Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company (IBEDC) for some parts of their franchise areas, TCN confirmed in a statement late Wednesday, August 6 night.
“The fire, which originated from one of the power station’s service transformer owned by Egbin Power Plc, is directly connected to the 33kV side of one of TCN’s power transformer- a 150MVA 330/132/33kV Inter-Bus Transformer II.
“Investigations traced the cause of the fire to a faulty 33kV instrument transformer (CT/VT) installed by Egbin Power Plc, which was engulfed by fire, “TCN’s General Manager, Public Affairs, Ndidi Mbah, said.
She explained that the incident ultimately led to damage to a 150MVA power transformer belonging to TCN, causing oil leakage from the transformer due to a tear in its main tank.
“As a result of the incident, there is a temporary reduction in bulk power supply to Ikorodu and Odogunyan 132/33kV transmission substations, which supply IKEDC and IBEDC for some parts of its franchise areas, as well as Sagamu Line 1, Sagamu Line 2, and Maryland Line 2 on the 132kV network within Lagos State.
“At the time of the incident, a total load of 47MW was affected. This load was immediately diverted to the second available 150MVA power transformer within the substation, which is now operating under strain,” Mbah said.
According to her, since then, the capacity deficit has increased and remains high, resulting in load-shedding across all affected areas.
“Please bear with us as we work diligently to replace the damaged transformer and restore normal power supply as soon as possible,” Mbah urged.
She noted that the TCN has already notified the IKEDC and EKEDC to assist in load management within their franchise areas.
“On our part, TCN is already making urgent arrangements to source the replacement transformer.
“We sincerely apologise for the inconvenience this is causing the two distribution companies and electricity customers in the affected areas and pledge to work hard to ensure full restoration of bulk supply to the substations in the shortest possible time,” she maintained.
The ICIR reports that the total blackout comes amid Ikeja Electric’s recent announcement of a 25-day scheduled power outage across sections of Lagos and environs to enable critical maintenance work by the TCN.
According to the company, residents are expected to suffer a power interruption that is expected to take place daily from 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM, beginning Monday, July 28, 2025, and continuing through Thursday, August 21, 2025.
“During this period, customers may experience intermittent power supply and load shedding across our network due to the planned TCN outage,” it stated.