A fire outbreak at the Egbin Power Plant has worsened the ongoing power outage across Lagos State, the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) confirmed on Thursday.
In a statement signed by its spokesperson, Ndidi Mbah, TCN revealed that the incident, which occurred at approximately 6:30 a.m. on Tuesday, August 5, 2025, caused extensive damage to one of its major transformers.
According to the statement, a 150 megavolt-amperes (MVA) power transformer was affected, leading to an oil leak after the transformer’s main tank was torn. The damage has disrupted power supply to several key substations and electricity distribution networks in Lagos and surrounding areas.
“Investigations traced the cause of the fire to a faulty 33 kV instrument transformer (CT/VT) installed by Egbin Power Plc, which was engulfed by fire. This ultimately led to the damage of a 150 MVA power transformer belonging to TCN, causing oil leakage from the transformer due to a tear in its main tank,” the TCN said.
“As a result of the incident, there is a temporary reduction in bulk power supply to Ikorodu and Odogunyan 132/33 kV transmission substations, which supply IKEDC and IBEDC for some parts of their franchise areas, as well as Sagamu Line 1, Sagamu Line 2, and Maryland Line 2 on the 132 kV network within Lagos State.”
The statement also indicated that a load of 47 megawatts was affected at the time of the incident. Power was temporarily diverted to another transformer, but the system remains under stress.
“At the time of the incident, a total load of 47 MW was affected. This load was immediately diverted to the second available 150 MVA power transformer within the substation, which is now operating under strain. 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.
“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,” the statement concluded.
This incident compounds the ongoing blackout announced by the Ikeja and Eko Electricity Distribution Companies, who earlier declared a 21-day power outage across Lagos from July 28 to August 21, 2025.
