By Dennis Okechukwu
The Nigerian Independent System Operator (NISO) has clarified that the national grid disturbance recorded on Tuesday was a partial system collapse, not a total grid failure as widely reported.
In a statement titled “Update on Partial System Disturbance on the National Grid,” NISO said the incident occurred at about 10:48am on January 27, 2026, following a voltage disturbance that originated from the Gombe Transmission Substation.
According to the operator, the disturbance rapidly spread across the network, affecting the Jebba, Kainji, and Ayede transmission substations. The development led to the tripping of some transmission lines and generating units, resulting in a partial system collapse.
NISO said corrective measures were immediately deployed to stabilise the grid, with restoration work commencing at 11:11am. The system was fully restored shortly after, and electricity supply across affected areas has since returned to normal.
“The incident only affected part of the grid and should not be described as a total collapse,” the statement noted.
Data from the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry (NESI) showed that power generation dropped sharply from 3,825 megawatts at 10:00am to 39 megawatts by 11:00am, with only the Delta Gas Power Plant contributing at the time.
By 11:59am, NISO recorded a total of 195 megawatts dispatched to three distribution companies: Benin DisCo (65MW), Ibadan DisCo (50MW), and Kaduna DisCo (40MW). Eight other distribution companies received zero allocation during the period.
The latest incident marks the second grid disturbance in 2026, following a similar occurrence on January 23.