KEY POINTS
- TCN boss told lawmakers Nigeria’s grid can transmit more power than it has ever received.
- TCN expanded wheeling capacity from 7,000MW to 8,700MW using over $1.4 billion in development financing.
- Vandalism, encroachment and foreign exchange pressures remain the biggest threats to grid expansion.
Nigeria’s electricity grid is not the problem. The Transmission Company of Nigeria came to Parliament this week to make that point clearly and on the record.
Sule Ahmed Abdulaziz, managing director and chief executive of TCN, told the Parliamentary and Stakeholders’ Engagement Summit on Power Sector Reforms in Nigeria that the national grid can currently transmit significantly more electricity than has ever been generated and delivered to it.
Nigeria’s installed generation capacity stands at 13,625 megawatts. The highest power ever generated and delivered to the grid was 5,801.84MW. TCN’s current wheeling capacity is 8,700MW.
“The implication is clear,” Abdulaziz said. “The national grid can currently transmit significantly more power than has ever been generated and supplied to it. TCN has consistently wheeled all available generation, demonstrating that the transmission network is ready to support higher levels of electricity delivery.”
The attacks that keep disrupting supply
Abdulaziz did not come only with good news. He told lawmakers that vandalism and sabotage of transmission infrastructure continue to disrupt power supply, increase repair costs and undermine investments in the sector.
Encroachment on transmission Rights-of-Way is equally damaging. It creates safety risks, blocks maintenance crews and constrains future network expansion.
“This calls for coordinated action among federal, state and local authorities, supported by a stronger legal framework,” Abdulaziz said. He urged lawmakers to establish a nationally consistent Right-of-Way protection framework and deliver stronger legal sanctions for attacks on electricity infrastructure.
Between January 2024 and November 2025, TCN commissioned 82 transformers and added approximately 8,500 megavolt-amperes of transformation capacity to the grid. The company expanded wheeling capacity from approximately 7,000MW to 8,700MW through strategic investments supported by the federal government and development partners. It has mobilized over $1.4 billion in development financing from international institutions to support transmission expansion and modernization.
Other challenges TCN wants addressed
Abdulaziz acknowledged that transmission is not the only weak link. Financing constraints, foreign exchange pressures, gas supply shortfalls and weaknesses in the distribution segment all remain significant challenges across the electricity value chain.
He said progress in transmission alone will not fix Nigeria’s electricity problem. The entire chain needs to work. But he was clear that transmission, at least, is ready to carry more. The grid is waiting for generation and distribution to catch up.
