The Transmission Company of Nigeria has dismissed claims that the national transmission network is the main obstacle to improved electricity supply, insisting that the grid currently has the capacity to wheel 8,700 megawatts of power, far above the highest volume of electricity ever generated and delivered to it.
Speaking at the Parliamentary and Stakeholders’ Engagement Summit on Power Sector Reforms in Lagos, the Managing Director of TCN, Sule Abdulaziz, said industry data showed that transmission was not the primary bottleneck in Nigeria’s electricity value chain. He argued that public perception often unfairly portrays transmission as the weakest segment of the power sector.
According to Abdulaziz, Nigeria’s installed generation capacity stands at 13,625MW, while the highest electricity generation ever delivered to the national grid remains 5,801.84MW. He noted that this record was achieved on March 4, 2025, when the transmission network also delivered a record 128,370.75 megawatt-hours of electricity within a single day.
The TCN boss maintained that the figures clearly demonstrate that the transmission network has enough capacity to evacuate and transmit all the electricity currently made available to it. He said the grid has consistently wheeled every megawatt supplied by generation companies and remains ready to handle significantly higher volumes of power.
Abdulaziz disclosed that TCN has increased the country’s bulk power wheeling capacity from about 7,000MW to 8,700MW through sustained infrastructure investments, engineering upgrades and support from the Federal Government and development partners. He described the achievement as evidence of the company’s commitment to strengthening the national grid.
He further revealed that between January 2024 and November 2025, TCN commissioned 82 new power transformers across the country, adding about 8,500MVA of transformation capacity. The company also completed several strategic transmission projects, including new substations and transmission line upgrades aimed at improving grid reliability and power evacuation.
Abdulaziz added that TCN has secured more than $1.4bn in development financing from international partners, including the World Bank, the African Development Bank, the Japan International Cooperation Agency and the French Development Agency. According to him, the funds are being deployed to support transmission expansion, grid modernisation, substation upgrades and other critical infrastructure projects across the country.
