The nationwide blackout being experienced at the moment will persist for as long gas shortage continues, investigations have shown. The nation’s electricity grid has lost 1,062 megawatts (mw) to turbine faults and gas shortage. This has resulted in persisting blackout in most parts of the country, a far cry from the relative stability experienced during the Yuletide.

The grid, which had peak power generation of 4,160mw on January 1, 2017 dropped to 3,432mw last week, and further declined to 3,098mw on Sunday, causing a total loss of 1,062mw. Nigeria System Operator (NSO) on Monday said the lowest generation was around 2,700mw.

The drop was majorly caused by supply of gas to the 23 Generation Companies (GenCos).

Another issue is the breakdown of two turbines, which are being revamped.

The Transmission Company of Nigeria, TCN,  had warned in December  that whenever power generation dropped below 3,000 megawatts, the stability of the transmission network cannot be guaranteed.