**What happened to Nigeria’s power grid on Monday?**
Nigeria’s national electricity grid experienced a dramatic collapse at about 1 pm on Monday, October 19, 2026, when supply plunged from 3,647 MW to 675 MW – a loss of roughly 2,972 MW within a single hour. The sharp decline followed the sudden removal of nine generating stations, including the Azura, Egbin, Jebba and Kainji hydro plants, reducing the number of plants feeding the grid from 21 to 12.
**How severe was the outage?**
- Peak generation at 1 am was 4,331 MW and rose to 4,458 MW by 6 am.
- By noon, output had already fallen to 3,647 MW.
- At 1 pm, the grid recorded only 675 MW, representing an 81.5 % drop.
- By 5 pm, supply recovered modestly to 2,150 MW, still well below the morning peak.
**Who responded to the crisis?**
The [Nigerian Independent System Operator (NISO)](https://www.niso.gov.ng) reported that the incident occurred at approximately 12:40 pm and that it immediately coordinated with the [Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN)](https://www.tcn.gov.ng) to implement corrective actions. NISO later announced that the grid had been stabilised and normal operations restored, clarifying that the disruption affected only a section of the network.
**What did distribution companies say?**
The [Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC)](https://aedc.gov.ng) issued a public notice stating that power from TCN had been interrupted due to a grid‑related challenge. AEDC added that TCN’s technical team was working to restore stability and that power would be gradually returned to its feeders. "We assure you that efforts are ongoing to restore full supply across our franchise area as soon as the situation permits," AEDC said, apologising for the inconvenience.
Similarly, Ikeja Electric attributed the reduced supply across its network to a shortfall in the volume of power allocated from the national grid. The company said it was engaging relevant stakeholders to improve available supply and would continue to distribute received electricity as efficiently and equitably as possible.
**Why did the grid destabilise?**
NISO indicated that multiple trippings on the 330‑kilovolt transmission network triggered the rapid loss of generation capacity. The operator’s swift collaboration with TCN helped to arrest the cascade and bring the system back to normal operation.
**What is the outlook?**
While supply has partially recovered, the episode underscores the fragility of Nigeria’s power infrastructure and the need for sustained investment and coordination among generation, transmission and distribution entities to prevent future large‑scale outages.