TCN boss assures company’s capacity to wheel all generated power

By Pan Afric Reporters

For years, the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) has often found itself at the centre of public criticism whenever the nation’s electricity supply falters. But the company is now pushing back against what it describes as a long-standing misconception, insisting that transmission is no longer the weakest link in Nigeria’s troubled power value chain.

At a time when millions of Nigerians continue to grapple with unreliable electricity, the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of TCN, Engr. Sule Ahmed Abdulaziz, has presented what he calls incontrovertible evidence that the country’s transmission network has outgrown its reputation as the primary obstacle to power delivery.

Addressing lawmakers, regulators, investors, development partners and industry stakeholders at the four-day Parliamentary and Stakeholders’ Engagement Summit on Power Sector Reforms in Lagos, Abdulaziz delivered a clear message: the national grid is capable of wheeling significantly more electricity than is currently being generated.

“The transmission network has consistently wheeled every megawatt made available to it. Our grid has the capacity and our operators have the competence. The transmission network of Nigeria is ready,” he declared.

His remarks come amid renewed national conversations on how to unlock Nigeria’s vast electricity potential and overcome decades of chronic power shortages that have constrained economic growth, industrial development and investment.

The Numbers Tell a Different Story

According to Abdulaziz, Nigeria’s electricity challenge is often misunderstood.

While the country boasts an installed generation capacity of 13,625 megawatts, the highest power ever generated and delivered to the national grid stands at 5,801.84MW, achieved on March 4, 2025.

By contrast, TCN’s current wheeling capacity has expanded to 8,700MW.

The implication, he argued, is straightforward: the transmission network can carry nearly 3,000MW more electricity than the country has ever generated and supplied to it.

For TCN, this statistic is central to correcting the narrative that transmission infrastructure is the principal cause of electricity shortages.

Rather, Abdulaziz suggested that the real challenge lies in unlocking generation capacity, strengthening gas supply, and improving the ability of electricity distribution companies to deliver power efficiently to end users.

Building a Bigger, Stronger Grid

The TCN chief outlined an ambitious programme of infrastructure expansion that has transformed the country’s transmission network over the last few years.

He disclosed that the company has increased national bulk power wheeling capacity from about 7,000MW to 8,700MW through targeted investments, network upgrades and strategic partnerships supported by the Federal Government and international development agencies.

One of the clearest indicators of this progress came on March 4, 2025, when Nigeria recorded not only its highest-ever peak generation of 5,801.84MW but also its largest single-day energy delivery of 128,370.75 megawatt-hours.

For TCN, the milestone demonstrated the growing resilience and capability of the national grid.

Between January 2024 and November 2025 alone, the company commissioned 82 transformers nationwide, adding approximately 8,500MVA of transformation capacity.

The upgrades spanned critical substations across the country, including Ajah, Egbin, Enugu New Haven, Onitsha, Gombe, Kano Kumbotso, Apo, Jos, Benin and Bauchi.

Major transmission line projects were also completed, including the strengthening of the Benin-Ajaokuta 330kV transmission corridor and the commissioning of the Ihovbor/Benin-Ajaokuta 330kV Turn-In Turn-Out (TITO) project, regarded as a strategic enhancement to power evacuation capacity in one of Nigeria’s key generation hubs.

According to Abdulaziz, these projects have significantly improved grid flexibility, reliability and redundancy.

Billions in Investment and the Push for Digitalisation

Perhaps one of TCN’s most significant achievements, according to its management, is its success in attracting development financing to modernise the transmission network.

The company has secured more than $1.4 billion in funding support from major international partners, including the World Bank, African Development Bank (AfDB), Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), and Agence Française de Développement (AFD).

These investments are helping to finance transmission expansion projects across the country while supporting efforts to modernise grid operations.

A key component of this transformation is the deployment of a nationwide Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) system.

Once fully operational, the system will provide real-time visibility of the grid, enable faster fault detection and response, improve power flow management and lay the foundation for future smart-grid capabilities.

For a sector long plagued by operational inefficiencies and limited visibility, the SCADA project is widely regarded as a critical step towards modern electricity network management.

The Challenges That Remain

Despite the progress, Abdulaziz acknowledged that substantial challenges continue to hinder the development of Nigeria’s electricity sector.

Among them are persistent vandalism of transmission infrastructure, encroachment on transmission rights-of-way, funding limitations, foreign exchange pressures, land acquisition difficulties and broader coordination gaps across the power value chain.

He warned that infrastructure sabotage remains one of the biggest threats to reliable electricity supply, increasing maintenance costs and disrupting service delivery.

Similarly, right-of-way violations continue to pose safety risks and complicate efforts to expand the transmission network.

These challenges, he noted, require coordinated action from government institutions, regulators, security agencies, communities and private sector stakeholders.

A Call for Policy Support

Beyond infrastructure investments, Abdulaziz urged policymakers to create a more enabling environment for power sector growth.

He called on the National Assembly to strengthen legal protections for critical electricity infrastructure, establish a nationally consistent right-of-way framework and provide adequate funding for priority transmission projects.

The TCN boss also advocated full implementation of the Electricity Act 2023 and greater policy coordination across generation, gas supply, transmission and distribution segments.

According to him, sustainable electricity supply can only be achieved when all parts of the value chain grow simultaneously.

The Road Ahead

For Nigeria, where electricity remains one of the most critical impediments to economic competitiveness, the stakes could hardly be higher.

As industries struggle with soaring energy costs and households endure persistent power shortages, expectations remain high for reforms that can finally deliver stable and reliable electricity.

For TCN, however, the message is clear: the transmission network has made significant progress and is no longer the bottleneck many assume it to be.

“The journey to reliable electricity in Nigeria is not a sprint; it is a structured, long-term national project requiring sustained commitment, well-sequenced investment and clear-eyed governance,” Abdulaziz said.

Whether that argument convinces Nigerians may depend not on capacity figures alone, but on when the benefits of these investments begin to translate into more hours of electricity in homes, businesses and industries across the country.

Until then, the debate over where Nigeria’s power problems truly reside is likely to continue.