1. Export capacity stands at 600MW as transmission infrastructure stagnates at 8,500MW

Promising that domestic electricity demand would be met, the Federal Government, yesterday, in Abuja, said the country would export electricity to 14 African countries following the successful synchronisation with the West African Power Pool, a feat lauded as a historic achievement.

This comes as the government revealed that about 60 per cent of power generation companies have complied with a compulsory Free Governor Control Order ahead of the November 30 deadline set by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC).

With about 600 megawatts existing export capacity with only 350MW shared with Benin Republic, Togo and Niger, the Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu; Managing Director of Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), Sule Abdulaziz, head of Nigerian Independent System Operator (NISO), Abdu Bello and that of the Market Operator (MO), Dr Edmund Eje, insisted energy demand remained low in Nigeria.

The stakeholders, who insisted that synchronisation with West African Power Pool, a specialised agency of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), which covers 14 of the 15 countries of the regional economic community, would earn Nigeria foreign exchange (FX), fast track investment, stability the grid and unlock industrial development in view of complete integration of all African countries.

As of the second quarter of 2025, Nigeria’s cross-border electricity transactions, according to data from the NERC, the Market Operator issued a total invoice of $17.54 million to international bilateral customers, with only $9.01 million being remitted, representing an overall payment performance of 51.33 per cent.

Nigeria’s leading entrepreneur, Tony Elumelu, through his Transcorp Ughelli, supplies Benin’s La Société Béninoise d’Énergie Électrique (SBEE) and Mainstream Energy serves Niger’s Nigerian Electricity Company (NIGELEC), while Compagnie Energie Electrique du Togo (CEET) is served by Niger Delta Power Holding Company and Paras.

While manufacturers are shifting to alternative energies, especially off-grid gas plants and households are changing to renewable sources, Adelabu said energy remained a major challenge in the country.

Describing the synchronised effort as a landmark achievement that shows major improvements in system strength, stability and regional cooperation, Adelabu explained that the four-hour synchronisation test was the most successful in nearly two decades.

The last major attempt in 2007 collapsed in just seven minutes, but this year’s test ran without any incident, he added, stressing that it even absorbed a sudden generator trip in Côte d’Ivoire, which Nigerian generators stabilised almost instantly.

According to him, the performance demonstrates a much more resilient national grid built on sustained investment in transmission expansion.

Nigeria’s current transmission wheeling capacity stands at 8,500 MW, supported by ongoing construction and commissioning of substations, transmission lines and transformer upgrades across the country.

Many new transformers under the World Bank and Service Level Agreement programmes are yet to be fully commissioned, while additional substations are nearing completion, he said.

He noted that the investments, alongside projects under the Presidential Power Initiative (Siemens), continue to strengthen the grid.

TCN Managing Director, Abdulaziz, while noting that power export would not affect the local market, clarified that synchronisation did not automatically increase grid capacity; rather, it proved the grid’s improved robustness and readiness for wider regional integration. (GUARDIAN)