The Minister of Power Adebayo Adelabu, has announced a significant improvement in the stability of Nigeria’s national electricity grid, attributing this progress to the installation of an additional 700 megawatts in transmission capacity. This enhancement is part of the Presidential Power Initiative, which secured $2.3 billion in financing to revamp and transform the transmission segments of the grid.
Prior to this upgrade, the grid became unstable and prone to collapse when power supply approached 5,000 megawatts. However, with nearly 90% of the new capacity now operational, the grid has shown noticeable improvements in performance. The minister highlighted that the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry has achieved a record transmission and distribution of 5,801.63 megawatts, marking a significant milestone in grid stability.
The Presidential Power Initiative involved the importation, installation, commissioning, and energization of 10 power transformers and 10 mobile substations across the country. This project aims to address the historical challenges of grid instability, which have led to frequent collapses in the past. Despite earlier reports of grid disturbances in 2025, the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) has clarified that these were not full system collapses but rather localized issues.
The addition of 700 megawatts to the grid is seen as a crucial step towards reducing the frequency of grid collapses, which have plagued Nigeria’s power sector for years. This development aligns with broader efforts to enhance the reliability and efficiency of the national grid, ensuring more consistent power supply to homes and businesses across the country