Power generation dropped by 630 megawatts (MW) following a fire outbreak at the Egbin Power Plant in Ikorodu, Lagos state.
This development has led to the attendant shutdown of generation by the company, coupled with the load reduction mechanism adopted by the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) to prevent system collapse.
In a statement issued by Egbin Power Plc on Friday, the fire incident had occurred at its power plant on Wednesday at about 4.20 pm, leading to a blackout in Lagos state.
According to Egbin, the thermal plant has an installed capacity of 1,320MW consisting of six units of 220MW each, while its actual average generating capacity is about 800MW.
The management said the fire outbreak was successfully contained by a team of firefighters in collaboration with firefighters from the Nigeria Gas Company (NGC) in Egbin.
It assured the public that its technical team are working to restore operations.
The company said it had set out a process to determine the cause of the fire incident as it had temporarily suspended its operations in line with the plant’s safety procedures.
Confirming the fire incident and its technical implications, Ndidi Mba, TCN’s spokesperson, told Thisday that the fire incident had led to the removal of a total of 630MW from the national grid.
“We know that there was a fire outbreak and the total generation of 630MW was removed from the grid because of that,” Mba said.
“You know, when a fire outbreak happens, even if it doesn’t affect the entire units, the tendency is that to protect the other ones, you shut them down.
“So, as I said, 630mw was removed from the grid on that day (Wednesday).”
Meanwhile, electricity consumers in the state and its environs have been witnessing constant and unusual power outages for days — affecting Ikeja Electric (IE) and Eko Electricity Distribution Company (EKEDC)
