File: Minister of Power, Joseph Tegbe.
• FG has arranged to commission 20 transmission projects before the end of 2026.
The Federal Government has set a target of generating and wheeling 6,000 megawatts of electricity before December, the Minister of Power, Joseph Tegbe, has said.
Tegbe disclosed this on Monday in Lagos while commissioning two new 100 megavolt-ampere, 132/33 kilovolt power transformers at the Ijora Transmission Substation.
While the TCN boasts 8,500MW wheeling capacity, power generation currently hovers around 5,000MW. The minister’s plan to wheel 6,000MW by December means efforts are ongoing to boost power generation.
The minister also said the Federal Government planned to commission 20 transmission projects before the end of the year as part of efforts to strengthen the nation’s electricity infrastructure.
“This is my second transmission project commissioning today, and we all agreed that before the end of the year, we should commission 20. The most important thing is to be able to wheel comfortably 6,000 megawatts before December. Will that happen?” he asked stakeholders, who replied in the affirmative.
The target comes as the government intensifies investments across the electricity value chain, with Tegbe stressing that the objective was not merely to increase generation but to ensure that available power could be transmitted reliably to consumers.
“Let me put on record that the objective of this commitment is not just to generate more megawatts. The objective is to create a power system that can reliably deliver electricity to where it is needed, when it is needed, and at a quality and cost that supports economic activity,” he stated.
Speaking on the significance of the Ijora project, Tegbe said the substation was located within one of Lagos’s most important economic corridors, serving industries, ports, commercial centres and communities.
He said the original Ijora substation had three 30 MVA transformers with a combined installed capacity of 90 MVA, which had become inadequate as population, commercial activities and industrial operations expanded.
According to him, two of the existing 30 MVA transformers have now been replaced with two 100 MVA transformers, raising the total installed capacity from 90 MVA to 230 MVA.
“This improvement represents a substantial intervention. Two of the existing 30 MVA transformers are replaced with two modern 100 MVA, 132/33 kV transformers, resulting in an increase of total installed capacity from 90 MVA to 230 MVA, equivalent to about 184MW. And that represents an additional 125MW of bulk transmission capacity that will translate into real economic value going forward,” he added.
Tegbe said the upgrade would improve electricity supply to Ijora, Costain, Oyigbo, Customs and Ajegunle communities while supporting businesses and millions of consumers within the Eko Electricity Distribution Company franchise area.
He noted that transmission infrastructure remained critical to achieving President Bola Tinubu’s ambition of transforming Nigeria into a $1tn economy. He recalled that transmission infrastructure used to be a hindrance in the country’s power sector, saying, however, that this story has now changed.
He added that the government was addressing the structural challenges across the electricity value chain. “For many years, transmission infrastructure has been one of the major constraints in our efforts to provide reliable electricity. We have generated electricity that cannot be adequately evacuated.
“We have had available generation constrained by transmission limitations, even though growing demand would have required corresponding improvement in transmission capacity. And we have inherited infrastructure that in several locations suffered from years of inadequate maintenance and delayed investment.
“This is not a criticism of the men and women who have worked within the system under difficult circumstances in the past. Rather, it is an acknowledgement of structural problems that we inherited and that we are solving now very decisively,” Tegbe said.
The minister also commended the TCN for its response to faults across the transmission network, saying the agency’s recent performance had impressed him.
“Let me tell you, I’m extremely impressed. In the last two months, the response time and support I’ve received from the agencies in the Ministry of Power has been very impressive. I dare say that I’ve not had any issue with either conductor falling over and not being fixed within 24 hours. I’ve not had issues of silicon composite insulator cracking and not being fixed within 24 hours. We’ve had issues of some feeders and stations out and fixed within four to six hours. I want you to keep it up,” he said.
Earlier, the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of TCN, Sule Abdulaziz, said the replacement of the two ageing transformers had increased the installed transformation capacity at Ijora from 90 MVA to 230 MVA.
He said the decision to install two 100 MVA transformers, rather than the usual 60 MVA units, was informed by the growing electricity demand in Lagos.
“I want to reiterate that what TCN normally does; let me tell you: when they do such reinforcement, we normally remove 30 MVA and put 60 MVA. But now, knowing the demand of Lagos, instead of putting 60, we are putting two 100 MVAs. That’s why the capacity has more than doubled,” Abdulaziz said.
He said the upgrade would provide additional capacity for future load growth, reduce network constraints and improve the reliability of electricity supply to the Eko Disco load centres.
Abdulaziz said the project was funded by the World Bank and executed by Shanghai Electric Limited. He added that the Ijora project was part of TCN’s nationwide programme to expand substations and transmission lines to ensure that electricity generated could be efficiently evacuated and delivered to distribution load centres.
“Transmission capacity must remain ahead of the generation curve. That is why TCN will continue to invest in new substations, transformer upgrades, transmission lines, and advanced grid technologies to ensure a stronger, more resilient, and responsive national grid,” he said.
Tegbe formally commissioned the two 100 MVA, 132/33 kV transformers and associated upgraded facilities, dedicating the project to the people of Lagos and businesses and industries operating in the area.
Earlier, the minister unveiled the 2x60MVA 132/33kV GIS substation on Apapa Road in Lagos. The project was funded by the Japan International Cooperation Agency.
