The national power grid lost over 1,100 megawatts of electricity on Sunday due to a labour dispute in the gas sector, the Nigerian Independent System Operator (NISO) has confirmed.
The disruption, caused by industrial action from the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN), led to widespread gas shortages for power plants. This caused generation to plummet from over 4,300MW to approximately 3,200MW at its lowest point, threatening a nationwide blackout.
In response, NISO implemented emergency measures to stabilize the system. These included ramping up hydropower generation by over 400MW, making real-time load adjustments, and initiating selective load shedding to prevent a total grid collapse.
The agency stated that these actions were necessary to “avert a nationwide blackout” and reaffirmed its commitment to maintaining grid reliability amidst the challenges.
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