The Transmission Company of Nigeria has secured over $1.4bn (about N1.87tn) in loans and grants from multilateral development partners to expand the national electricity grid this year, pushing its transmission capacity above 8,700 megawatts.
The funding, mobilised largely within the last 12 months, has gone into expanding transmission infrastructure, including the commissioning of 89 power transformers nationwide.
This was disclosed by the TCN Executive Director, Transmission Service Provider, Ajiboye Oluwagbenga, during a training workshop held on Thursday in Keffi, Nasarawa State.
Oluwagbenga said the funds were sourced through partnerships with international development institutions and financiers, including the World Bank, African Development Bank, Japan International Cooperation Agency and Agence Française de Développement.
He explained that the investments had considerably strengthened the transmission network and created sufficient capacity to move much more electricity across the country, even though the full 8,700MW capacity is yet to be physically tested.
According to him, expanding the grid has not come cheap. “These things don’t come cheap at all. The investment made so far, accumulated in the last 12 months, that we have secured is in excess of $1.4bn from multilateral and development financing mobilised for TCN expansion.
“When we are talking about the transmission wheeling capacity, we stand at 8,700MW. It has not been physically tested, but it has been simulated. So presently, that is where we are,” he said.
He said the company was being deliberately conservative in its figures, pointing out that more transmission facilities had been added in the past six months but were yet to be captured in the official capacity number.
“For the past six months, we have added so much capacity, but we just don’t want to do that now. We are leaving it at 8,700MW. The meaning is this: where we have all the facilities, if the Discos are ready to pick up load, we can conveniently wheel 8,700MW,” Oluwagbenga stated.
He noted, however, that the reluctance or inability of some electricity distribution companies to take up available power was restricting how much electricity actually reaches consumers. He put the highest volume of electricity ever wheeled through the national grid at 5,801.84MW, a record achieved in 2025.
“In 2025, when things were okay, we were able to wheel 5,801.84MW across the grid. That is the peak we have ever done. It is not because this industry does not have the capacity, but because these distribution companies are claiming that this is business now. If they are not getting their revenue, they are not ready to take the power. So, that is limiting us,” he said.
The TCN director further stated that the company’s transmission capacity had crossed 8,500MW, insisting that the network could supply significantly more electricity to distribution companies if existing capacity were fully utilised.
“When you now look at our transmission capacity in TCN, which you can confirm from the figures and data we will supply to you, we already have a transmission capacity of over 8,500MW. The meaning is this: if all our transformers are fully loaded, we can successfully transmit this power to the distribution companies,” he added.
The Federal Government has in recent years stepped up efforts to expand the transmission network as part of wider reforms targeted at resolving bottlenecks within the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry.
Despite improvements in available generation and transmission capacity, the power sector continues to struggle with weak distribution infrastructure, liquidity issues, and the failure of Discos to take up all the power generated.
Oluwagbenga also pushed back against the notion that transmission is the weakest link in the electricity value chain, accusing other industry players of habitually blaming TCN for problems that originate elsewhere in the system.
“When they say TCN is the weakest link, we are working there, and we know it is not true. But we don’t have to shout too much because we are a government agency.
“You could see for the past two days now, Abuja Disco is claiming that TCN is the cause of its constraint for reduced supply to its customers. We have looked around our network, and nothing has gone bad in our network. All our lines to Abuja are on. We have responded to them that no, because they find it very easy to blame TCN for everything,” he said.
He also raised concerns about the continued vandalism of transmission infrastructure, warning that attacks on towers, lines and substations were diverting much-needed funds away from network expansion.
“Persistent attacks continue to threaten towers, lines, substations and projects. While those who attack this infrastructure are Nigerians, it is sad that they prioritise their pockets over the general benefit of Nigerians,” he said.
Oluwagbenga added that TCN was collaborating with the Office of the National Security Adviser and other security agencies to ensure that suspects arrested for vandalising electricity infrastructure face prosecution.
“Our staff don’t work on lines or remove anything from them except when there is an issue. So, anyone seen working on transmission lines should be reported to the police or vigilantes close to them.
“This is because the perpetrators are criminals and might be armed. So, any sighting of unauthorised activity should be reported,” he said.
