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…Seeks 100-Day Action Plan to Boost Power Supply, Fix Transmission Bottlenecks, Market Liquidity

The Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), Engr. (Dr.) Sule Ahmed Abdulaziz, has outlined three priority interventions to unlock Nigeria’s electricity generation potential, calling for urgent action to restore idle generation capacity, strengthen transmission infrastructure and address liquidity challenges in the power market.

Abdulaziz said Nigeria’s electricity crisis could not be resolved by focusing on installed generation capacity alone, stressing that the priority should be to ensure that available power is reliably transmitted to consumers and sustained through a commercially viable electricity market.

Speaking at the 2026 Energy Conference and Exhibition held at the Landmark Centre, Lagos, the TCN chief executive noted that Nigeria’s installed generation capacity stood at over 13,000 megawatts (MW), while the electricity available to consumers remained significantly below that level.

“Nigeria’s electricity challenge is not simply a question of how much generation capacity has been installed. It is whether that capacity is available, can be dispatched, can be carried reliably through the network, and can be sustained by a functioning commercial market,” he said.

He identified the restoration of unavailable generation, the removal of transmission constraints and the repair of commercial arrangements sustaining the electricity market as the three interventions capable of delivering the fastest improvements in power supply.

According to him, the interventions were ranked according to their potential impact, speed of implementation and ability to make additional electricity available to consumers.

On generation, Abdulaziz identified restoring existing but unavailable generating capacity as the largest near-term opportunity for improving electricity supply.

He called for dependable gas supply, predictable payment and commercial arrangements throughout the gas-to-power value chain, as well as coordinated maintenance to minimise avoidable power plant downtime.

He also urged stakeholders to translate existing policy frameworks, including the Nigeria Integrated Resource Plan and the National Integrated Electricity Policy, into measurable improvements in generation availability.

The TCN managing director maintained that the effectiveness of government policies and sectoral plans should be determined by the additional electricity they deliver to the national grid rather than the number of documents produced.

“Progress should be measured not by the number of plans produced, but by how much additional electricity becomes available to the grid and reaches consumers,” he stated.

On transmission infrastructure, Abdulaziz disclosed that TCN had a simulated wheeling capacity of approximately 8,700MW, explaining that the actual evacuation of electricity depended on the availability of transmission lines and transformers, voltage and system stability limits, and the capacity of electricity distribution companies to take up available power.

He revealed that between January 2024 and November 2025, the company installed 82 power transformers, adding approximately 8,500 megavolt-amperes (MVA) to the country’s transformation capacity.

“Our responsibility is to maintain and strengthen the network while expanding its capability,” he said.

Abdulaziz said TCN was prioritising critical network reinforcement and rehabilitation projects, improved availability of transmission lines and transformers, stronger protection systems and enhanced real-time monitoring through Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition/Energy Management System (SCADA/EMS) tools.

He further emphasised the need for disciplined maintenance, faster responses to faults and improved coordination among generation, transmission and distribution companies to ensure that available electricity reaches consumers more reliably.

The TCN chief executive, however, warned that improvements in generation and transmission would not be sustainable without addressing liquidity challenges across the electricity market.

He identified the strengthening of the commercial chain as the third critical intervention, insisting that payment shortfalls and weak commercial arrangements must be addressed to sustain power generation and delivery.

“This requires credible metering and energy accounting, transparent settlement, improved collection, enforcement of market obligations, and targeted regulatory decisions that make contracts and payments predictable,” he said.

To accelerate implementation, Abdulaziz proposed a focused 100-day implementation scorecard built around existing sectoral plans, with clearly defined responsibilities, deadlines and measurable outcomes.

He said the scorecard should monitor three key indicators: additional generation capacity made available, megawatts constrained by verified network bottlenecks, and commercial actions required to sustain electricity supply.

“The scorecard should track three outcomes: additional generation made available, megawatts constrained by verified network bottlenecks, and commercial actions required to sustain supply,” he stated.

He stressed that every intervention must have a designated lead institution, a specific deadline and a measurable result to ensure accountability and prevent implementation delays.

“The ranking is deliberate: first, unlock generation that is currently unavailable; second, remove network constraints that prevent available power reaching consumers; and third, repair the commercial arrangements that sustain both,” he explained.

Reaffirming TCN’s commitment to improving electricity transmission, Abdulaziz said the company would continue to strengthen the resilience of the national grid, expand its power transfer capability and deepen collaboration with stakeholders across the electricity value chain.

He maintained that Nigeria’s progress towards its full generation potential would depend on a shift from measuring success by installed capacity to focusing on electricity that could be made available, transmitted reliably and sustained commercially.

“Nigeria will move closer to its generation potential when we stop treating installed capacity as the final measure of success and focus instead on megawatts that are available, deliverable and commercially sustainable,” he concluded.

The 2026 Energy Conference and Exhibition featured exhibitions by leading players in the energy industry and attracted the Honourable Minister of Power, Mr. Joseph Tegbe; the Governor of Lagos State, represented by the state’s Commissioner for Energy and Mineral Resources, Mr. Biodun Ogunleye; the Group President of SkipperSeil Group, Mr. Jitender Kumar Sachdeva; and other industry leaders, development partners, investors and stakeholders.