• Gas flows restored on Lagos-Escravos line, boosting Nigeria power supply

• Explosion repairs allow gas-fired plants to gradually resume generation

• Outage highlights grid reliance on gas and infrastructure vulnerabilities

Power supply in Nigeria improved after gas flows were restored along the Lagos-Escravos corridor, the Nigerian Independent System Operator (NISO) said on Dec. 28. The grid operator told local media that the return of gas supplies has enabled several thermal power plants to gradually resume operations.

The recovery follows an outage caused by damage to the gas pipeline network after an explosion on the Lagos-Escravos line. The incident curtailed gas deliveries and temporarily reduced electricity generation on the national grid.

Repairs were carried out by the Nigeria Gas Infrastructure Company (NGIC), a subsidiary of Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd) responsible for gas infrastructure. Work focused on the affected section of the pipeline. NISO said generation would be ramped up in phases to maintain grid stability, allowing several gas-fired power plants to increase output.

Nigeria’s electricity system remains heavily reliant on natural gas. The country had more than 14,000 megawatts of installed capacity by the end of 2024, largely from thermal power plants, according to the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC). Actual power delivered to the grid, however, has been significantly lower, averaging about 4,800 megawatts during the year, due to gas supply constraints, maintenance issues and security risks affecting infrastructure.

NISO said the gradual normalization of gas supplies should help stabilize power generation in the short term, provided there are no further disruptions to gas infrastructure.

The episode underscores the vulnerability of Nigeria’s power system to interruptions in gas supply. Authorities say they are stepping up efforts to secure and maintain energy infrastructure as the country seeks to raise generation capacity to 30,000 megawatts by 2030.

Abdel-Latif Boureima