A faulty transformer at Egbin Power Plc has sparked a fire yesterday, causing a significant disruption to the electricity supply in parts of Lagos, the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), has reported.
TCN’s general manager, Public Affairs, Ndidi Mbah, who made this known said the incident originated from a faulty 33kV instrument transformer owned by Egbin Power Plc, which ignited and subsequently caused fire damage and oil leakage in its transformer.
“A fire incident occurred at the Egbin Power Plc at about 6:30 am on August 5, 2025, affecting TCN’s 150MVA power transformer at its Egbin Transmission Substation. The fire which originated from one of the power station’s service transformer owned by Egbin Power Plc, is directly connected to the 33kV side of one of TCN’s power transformer- a 150MVA 330/132/33kV Inter-Bus Transformer II,” Mbah stated.
According to her, investigations traced the cause of the fire to a faulty 33kV instrument transformer (CT/VT) installed by Egbin Power Plc, which was engulfed by fire. This ultimately led to the damage to a 150MVA power transformer belonging to TCN, causing oil leakage from the transformer due to a tear in its main tank.
She said that as a result of the incident, there is a temporary reduction in bulk power supply to Ikorodu and Odogunyan 132/33kV transmission substations, which supply IKEDC and IBEDC for some parts of its franchise areas, as well as Sagamu Line 1, Sagamu Line 2, and Maryland Line 2 on the 132kV network within Lagos State.
Mbah noted that at the time of the incident, a total load of 47MW was affected. This load was immediately diverted to the second available 150MVA power transformer within the substation, which is now operating under strain. Since then, the capacity deficit has increased and remains high, resulting in load-shedding across all affected areas.
Please bear with us as we work diligently to replace the damaged transformer and restore normal power supply as soon as possible. TCN has already notified the IKEDC and EKEDC to assist in load management within their franchise areas.
On our part, TCN is already making urgent arrangements to source the replacement transformer.
“We sincerely apologise for the inconvenience this is causing the two distribution companies and electricity customers in the affected areas and pledge to work hard to ensure full restoration of bulk supply to the substations in the shortest possible time,” the TCN stated.
