Power sector stakeholders have criticized the state of Nigeria’s national electricity transmission grid, attributing its frequent outages to outdated infrastructure, lack of modernization and political interference.

Speaking in an interview, the Managing Director of Mainstream Energy Solutions Limited (MESL), Audu Lamu, said despite years of operating the grid, Nigeria remained stuck addressing fundamental failures instead of moving forward towards modernization.

“Right now, we should be talking about installing SCADA systems and smart grid technologies, not fighting outages caused by a single power transformer that takes out the entire grid,” he said. he declared.

The head of the MESL noted the presence of equipment that has been in operation for 40-50 years, which has long exceeded efficiency standards and cannot support the transition to modern operation of the network.

According to him, although these old systems work, they are no longer efficient and their lack of adaptability to modernization standards is a major concern.

Lamu also highlighted the glaring absence of proactive maintenance programs, noting that many network outages occur without warning due to inadequate protection systems.

“No major asset, whether a transformer or circuit breaker, should fail without notice. These assets require significant investment and must be protected accordingly,” he added.

The MESL Managing Director identified multiple challenges that undermine Nigeria’s electricity value chain, spanning technical, commercial and political issues.

Lamu noted that although the generation and distribution sectors have been privatized to encourage efficiency and investment, the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) remains under government control, creating a disconnect in operations.

“This lack of synergy – what we call a ‘handshake’ – between the privatized sectors and TCN hampers overall efficiency. As a private operator, I have to deliver returns to shareholders and I cannot afford downtime. But TCN, constrained by political interference, does not operate under the same pressure, which weakens the entire chain.” Lamu said.

He argued that political interference limits TCN’s ability to make critical management decisions and use limited funds effectively. Lamu said: “When there are no consequences for poor performance, inefficiencies will persist,” he warned. Looking ahead, Lamu recommended using private operators to manage the network while retaining government ownership.

“Other countries are successfully managing critical national assets using skilled private operators. This attracts investments and investors ensure that the assets are well managed to protect their interests,” he noted.

He dismissed concerns that privatization of the transport sector would compromise national security, pointing to his company’s management of government-owned hydroelectric plants.

Lamu said: “We operate under strict regulatory oversight, which ensures accountability. »
He stressed the importance of adopting SCADA systems, real-time communication networks that enable the National Control Center in Oshogbo to monitor the network more effectively.

“With SCADA, no operator can hide system faults or failures because the control center would instantly see what is happening,” he explained.
Lamu also advocated a move towards smart grid technologies, which reduce human interference in network management, thereby making the system more reliable. “We need to think about modern solutions like smart grids. These systems reduce downtime and improve efficiency by automating many processes,” he added.
Energy expert Dan Kunle noted that power outages in Nigeria, especially in the north, would continue until proper investments and managers were put in place by the Federal Government.

Kunle said: “It is not about the volume of electricity produced or distribution metering, but how efficiently you manage transmissions and distribution. Major industrial users must be prepared to pay the appropriate price,” he said.

According to him, DisCos will continue to experience revenue shortages because domestic customers will never be able to pay economic prices for electricity, adding that Nigeria is still far from equilibrium in the electricity market as investments are very low and therefore productivity is non-existent.