NISO Tightens Governor Compliance, Demands Data-Driven Hydro Planning to Stabilise Grid
By Pan Afric Reporters
The Nigerian Independent System Operator (NISO) has intensified enforcement of frequency-regulation obligations across Nigeria’s electricity generation fleet and called for a more integrated, data-driven approach to hydropower planning to strengthen grid stability and improve electricity supply nationwide.
The call was made by the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of NISO, Engr. Abdu Mohammed Bello, FNSE, at the opening of the 2026 Hydro Generation Planning Meeting held at the Jebba Hydro Power Station in Niger State from August 17 to 21, 2026. NISO’s official profile confirms Bello as the organisation’s Managing Director, following his appointment in March 2025.
Addressing representatives of the Federal Ministry of Power, Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), hydropower generating companies, Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), distribution companies, water-resource authorities, development partners and industry experts, Bello said hydropower remained strategically important to the security and reliability of Nigeria’s electricity grid.
He said the importance of hydropower goes beyond the volume of electricity generated, noting that hydroelectric plants provide valuable operational capabilities, including frequency regulation, reserve provision, voltage support and system restoration.
The NISO boss disclosed that the system operator had intensified compliance enforcement on Free Governor Control across the generation fleet through field inspections, conditional derogations with fixed expiry dates and a penalty framework tied to Monthly Penalizable Capacity, in line with NERC directives.
“Governor response is no longer a theoretical attribute we describe in planning documents; it is a measured, monitored and, where necessary, enforced obligation,” Bello said.
He explained that every hydro unit has a governor-response profile visible to NISO and urged generating companies to incorporate the demonstrated flexibility of their plants into generation planning rather than treating compliance merely as an enforcement issue.
According to him, the ability of hydropower plants to respond rapidly to changes in generation and demand would become increasingly important as Nigeria’s energy mix evolves and variable renewable-energy sources gain greater prominence.
NISO seeks integrated hydro generation planning
Bello said hydro generation planning should no longer be viewed simply as an exercise in determining how many megawatts would be available during a particular period.
He said the process must incorporate reservoir levels, water inflows and releases, seasonal hydrological conditions, dam-management requirements, generating-unit availability, maintenance schedules, transmission constraints, demand patterns and reserve requirements.
“Hydro generation planning is therefore not simply an exercise in determining how many megawatts will be available at a given period. It is an integral component of national power-system planning and grid security management,” he stated.
The NISO chief executive said effective planning required accurate and timely information from generating companies, transmission operators, water-resource authorities and other stakeholders.
He identified hydrological forecasts, generation availability declarations, maintenance and outage schedules, unit capability information, reservoir data, transmission outages, generation forecasts and real-time communication as critical inputs into reliable system planning.
The NISO boss said the ultimate objective was to ensure that available hydropower resources were optimally utilised while preserving system security and providing the flexibility needed to operate the national grid reliably.
He noted that the Electricity Act 2023 had further strengthened the role of system operation in generation scheduling, commitment and dispatch, transmission scheduling, generation-outage coordination, congestion management, ancillary services and long-term capacity planning.
Bello stressed, however, that NISO could not achieve these objectives in isolation, calling for stronger coordination among generating companies, TCN, distribution companies, water-resource authorities, regulators and other market participants.
NISO Pushes Rehabilitation, Modernisation of Hydro Assets
He also called for greater attention to the reliability and maintenance of Nigeria’s hydroelectric generating units, stressing that installed capacity was meaningless without corresponding available and operational capacity.
He urged generating companies to strengthen preventive and predictive maintenance and minimise forced outages.
Bello said ageing hydropower infrastructure should be rehabilitated, refurbished or upgraded as part of broader investments in national generation adequacy and grid reliability.
“Where rehabilitation, refurbishment or upgrading is required, such interventions should be viewed not merely as individual station projects but as investments in national generation adequacy and grid reliability,” he said.
He also disclosed that NISO’s ongoing modern control centre and operational intelligence systems programme was designed to enhance operational visibility through Energy Management Systems, SCADA, Internet of Things, state estimation and contingency-analysis capabilities.
The initiative, he said, would help move generation planning from reliance on historical patterns towards predictive, scenario-based and risk-informed planning.
NISO Demands Tracked Implementation of Meeting Resolutions
Bello urged participants at the hydro-generation meeting to identify practical constraints affecting electricity generation and agree on measurable actions rather than producing recommendations that would remain on paper.
He said the meeting should result in a clear framework covering projected hydro generation, water-resource availability, maintenance schedules, unit availability, governor-response compliance, coordination with thermal and renewable generation, reserve requirements and transmission constraints.
He further proposed that all decisions and action points be captured in a tracked register with assigned responsibilities and deadlines.
“The action items from this meeting must be captured in a tracked register, with clearly assigned owners and timelines, and reviewed periodically until they are fully implemented, rather than being filed away until the next biennial meeting,” Bello said.
According to him, the success of the engagement should ultimately be measured by improved generation availability, enhanced grid security and increased electricity supply to Nigerians, rather than by the quality of presentations delivered at the meeting.
The NISO boss said Nigeria possessed significant hydropower resources but needed to ensure that the resources were properly planned, operated, maintained and developed to maximise their contribution to national development.
He reaffirmed NISO’s commitment to working with stakeholders to integrate hydropower effectively into the national generation mix and urged participants to use the engagement to establish a stronger basis for coordinated hydro generation planning.
The five-day meeting brought together key stakeholders across Nigeria’s electricity industry to review the performance, availability, operational constraints, maintenance requirements, water-resource outlook and generation projections of the country’s hydropower fleet.
