By Gold Jeremiah
The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) has dismissed claims that the country’s persistent electricity supply crisis is driven mainly by inadequate transmission capacity, insisting that insufficient power generation remains the principal constraint to improved electricity delivery.
In a statement issued on Thursday, the company cited the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission’s (NERC) audited First Quarter 2026 report, arguing that the latest industry data clearly shows generation shortfalls—not limitations in the national grid—are responsible for the country’s power supply challenges.
TCN was responding to claims by the Association of Power Generation Companies (APGC), published by THISDAY Newspaper on July 28, which alleged that more than 2,500 megawatts of electricity are stranded daily because the national grid can only wheel about 4,500MW despite an installed generation capacity of over 15,500MW.
Rejecting the assertion, TCN described the narrative as inconsistent with NERC’s verified data, noting that Generation Companies (GenCos) declared an average available generation capacity of just 4,457.96MW in the first quarter of 2026—almost identical to the 4,500MW transmission limit claimed by APGC.
The company further pointed out that NERC’s report puts the combined installed capacity of the country’s 28 grid-connected power plants at 13,625MW, significantly lower than the more than 15,500MW figure cited by APGC.
TCN maintained that its verified transmission wheeling capacity currently stands at 8,700MW following sustained investments in transformers, substations, transmission lines and other grid infrastructure.
To reinforce its position, the company recalled that the national grid successfully transmitted a record peak generation of 5,801.84MW on March 4, 2025, while also achieving an all-time daily energy delivery of 128,370.75 megawatt-hours (MWh), demonstrating that the transmission network is capable of handling significantly higher electricity volumes.
According to TCN, NERC’s report also revealed that the Plant Availability Factor stood at only 32.72 per cent in the first quarter of 2026, indicating that more than two-thirds of the country’s installed generation capacity was unavailable for dispatch due to gas supply constraints, maintenance shutdowns and mechanical faults at power plants.
The company noted that several power stations—including Alaoji, Rivers, Ibom Power and Sapele Steam—recorded extremely low operational availability during the review period, while hydropower generation also declined because of seasonal low water levels and maintenance activities.
TCN further argued that NERC’s reported grid load factor of 92.26 per cent contradicts claims that between 2,500MW and 4,000MW of electricity is stranded daily, explaining that the regulator’s data indicates only about 345MW of available generation went undispatched on average during the quarter.
On transmission efficiency, the company said NERC recorded a Transmission Loss Factor of 7.96 per cent—equivalent to an average of about 327MW—far below allegations that technical losses on the transmission network range between 1,200MW and 1,300MW daily.
The company also dismissed suggestions that the nationwide grid disturbance recorded on January 27, 2026, resulted from transmission failure, stating that NERC’s preliminary investigation attributed the incident to inadequate reactive power support. However, it acknowledged that a separate grid collapse on January 23 involved a transmission asset and had since been thoroughly investigated.
TCN further contended that the reported N2.28 trillion GenCo capacity payment shortfall stems largely from commercial and market settlement challenges rather than transmission constraints.
It cited NERC’s findings that electricity Distribution Companies (DisCos) recorded Aggregate Technical, Commercial and Collection (ATC&C) losses of 37.44 per cent during the first quarter of 2026, alongside remittance shortfalls of N24.95 billion, underscoring the broader structural challenges affecting Nigeria’s electricity value chain.