KEY POINTS
- Nigeria’s electricity output has dropped to about 4,300MW mainly because gas supply to thermal plants is less than half of what is needed.
- Maintenance work on major gas infrastructure triggered the shortage, forcing authorities to ration electricity nationwide.
- Experts warn that unless gas supply improves and renewable energy expands, power outages could continue.
Nigeria is once again battling widespread power outages, leaving homes, offices, and businesses struggling with unreliable electricity.
The situation, according to the Nigerian Independent System Operator, NISO, is mainly caused by a sharp shortage of gas supply to thermal power stations, which produce most of the country’s electricity.
In a public notice, the operator explained that average power generation has fallen to about 4,300 megawatts, far below what the country can produce if everything is running properly.
This drop has forced electricity distributors to ration supply, leading to long hours of blackout in many parts of the country.
The problem began earlier in February when maintenance work on major gas facilities owned by Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited and Seplat Energy temporarily stopped gas deliveries to several power plants.
Even after maintenance ended, supply did not fully recover. Thermal plants need about 1.63 billion standard cubic feet of gas daily to run at peak levels, but as of late February they were receiving only around 692 million, less than half of what is required.
Because thermal stations provide most of Nigeria’s electricity, any disruption in gas flow immediately reduces power output nationwide.
Why Load Shedding Became Necessary
With generation so low, the system operator said it had no choice but to ration electricity to prevent a total collapse of the grid. Power is now shared across distribution companies based on allocation formulas approved by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission.
Officials say the priority is to keep the grid stable until gas supply improves. They also apologised to Nigerians for the inconvenience and promised to keep working with industry players to restore normal service.
Nigeria’s electricity system depends heavily on gas-fired plants, which supply more than 70 percent of grid power, while hydropower provides the rest. That heavy reliance means any issue in the gas sector—pipeline vandalism, debt disputes, maintenance shutdowns, or production challenges—quickly turns into a power crisis.
