The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) has announced plans to increase the country’s power evacuation capacity to 10,000 megawatts (MW) by 2026,Thecable reports.
Speaking at the ‘meet-the-press’ program at the presidential villa in Abuja on Thursday, TCN Managing Director, Sule Abdulaziz, reaffirmed the government’s commitment to modernizing the national grid and ensuring a stable power supply.
Highlighting the recent peak power generation record of 5,801.84MW achieved on March 4, Abdulaziz stated that TCN is steadily working toward its 10,000MW target, building on the current evacuation capacity of 8,500MW.
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“With the numerous transmission projects completed in the last two years and new ones underway, I can confidently state that in less than two years, the Transmission Company of Nigeria will conveniently evacuate 10,000MW of generated power,” he said. “We currently have a capacity of 8,500MW, and by the end of next year, it will reach 10,000MW.”
$486 Million World Bank-Funded Grid Monitoring System Nears Completion
Abdulaziz also highlighted progress on the World Bank-funded grid monitoring system, which is now 69% complete. He noted that World Bank-backed projects have added 6,000 megavolt-amperes (MVA) of transmission capacity, with another 3,000MVA in progress.
Other key projects include the new Kano-Kaduna 330kV DC transmission line, the Zaria 330kV substation, and the 132kV substation in Jaji, Kaduna—funded by the African Development Bank (AfDB).
Presidential Power Initiative and Siemens Project
Under the Presidential Power Initiative (PPI), also known as the Siemens project, the government has delivered 10 mobile substations, seven of which are already installed, along with 10 transformers of various ratings connected to the grid.
“The FGN Power Company, a special-purpose vehicle for implementing the presidential power initiative, has completed the pilot phase with transformer installations. Phase 1B has also been approved by the Federal Executive Council (FEC) to reinforce seven existing transmission substations,” Abdulaziz explained.
Future phases of the project are being planned, though TCN itself does not manage the Siemens project directly. Instead, FGN Power Company, a sister agency, oversees its execution.
Strengthening Grid Stability and Renewable Energy Integration
To improve grid reliability, TCN has developed a generation load drop sensitivity system, which helps prevent cascading failures in the absence of a Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) system.
Abdulaziz noted that the ongoing SCADA project, funded by the World Bank at $486 million, is 69% complete. Once fully operational, it will enhance real-time monitoring, making fault detection and response times significantly faster.
“Once SCADA is fully implemented, operators will no longer need to manually track faults or rely on phone calls to determine the status of grid infrastructure,” he said.
On renewable energy integration, Abdulaziz revealed that the federal government is rolling out solar power projects across all 19 northern states, leveraging the region’s abundant sunlight. Each state is expected to generate 100MW of solar power, which will gradually be fed into the national grid.
However, he cautioned that only 10% of total generation can come from solar power without destabilizing the grid.
With these initiatives, TCN aims to enhance Nigeria’s power transmission network, ensuring a more stable and efficient electricity supply for the country.
