Peter Ikenga Global electricity demand is growing at one of the fastest sustained paces in a decade. According to the latest report by the International Energy Agency (IEA), this shift, largely driven by AI data centres, industrial electrificatioAn, and severe heatwaves, is projected to increase annual consumption by 3.3 percent to 3.9 percent. In developing countries, especially Nigeria, our relationship with electricity is peculiar. We measure our days by the relief of a restored line, and the quiet calculation of whether the power supply will hold long enough to finish what we started. For a nation of our ambition, energy, and youthful population, this should not be our normal. The good news is that it does not have to remain so. I do not intend to add to the long catalogue of complaints about our power sector. As someone who has spent a career in the energy sector and leading one of Nigeria’s leading power generation companies, Transcorp Power Plc, I believe the more useful conversation is about what is holding us back, and what those of us inside the industry must do differently. The truth is that Nigeria’s power challenges are not mysteries. They are well understood. What they demand now is execution, partnership, and a culture of innovation. A Sector Under Pressure and A Government That Is Responding It would be unfair to discuss our difficulties without first acknowledging the noble reforms by the Federal Government. The Electricity Act 2023 is one of the most consequential pieces of legislation our sector has seen in a generation. Decentralising the electricity market and empowering states to develop their own frameworks has opened the door to competition, local solutions, and fresh investment in ways the old, over-centralised model never could. The government has also moved to address legacy liabilities and attract private capital back into the value chain. These are serious steps, and they deserve recognition. The foundation is being laid. But a foundation is not a finished building, and the constraints that remain are real. Three stand out. The first is gas supply. As present, Nigeria’s grid is overwhelmingly thermal with approximately 75 percent of electricity supplied to the national grid is generated by gas-fired power plants. This means power generation from these plants is only as available as the gas that feeds them. When gas supply is interrupted or constrained, generation falls, no matter how much available generating capacity the plant has. The second is transmission and infrastructure security. Even when power plants generate, the electricity must travel uninterrupted to the end users. Vandalisation of transmission infrastructure and the fragility of the grid infrastructure means that the electricity generated by power plants- which the- often cannot reach the homes and businesses that need it. The third is liquidity. The Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry (NESI) continues to suffer from a severe liquidity crisis. Due to several factors, including non-cost-reflective tariffs for most electricity consumers, unpaid subsidy commitments on the part of the Federal Government and significant technical, commercial and collection losses, the Distribution Companies (DisCos) collect significantly less revenue than is required to pay for electricity supplied. Given that DisCos are the revenue assurance base for the electricity value chain, the resultant payment shortfalls affect the entire value chain from Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading Company (NBET) to Generating Companies (GenCos) to gas suppliers, manifesting in the form of mounting market debts, inadequate investments, recurring gas supply constraints, continued government intervention through subsidies and weakening investor confidence. The familiar cycle of delayed payments across the power value chain weakens everyone’s ability to invest, maintain, and grow. These are not the failings of any single company; they are systemic, sector-wide realities that affect us all. Persistent gas supply limitations and ongoing transmission infrastructure challenges reduced the average power we delivered to the national grid in the first half of 2026. A decline in available generation capacity translated directly into financial performance, with revenue moderating to N181.97 billion in H1 2026, down from N205.81 billion in H1 2025. Taken together, these outcomes demonstrate a simple but important reality: when the power sector underperforms, even its most resilient operators are impacted. Ultimately, we all operate within the same grid, and the strength of that system determines the performance of every participant within it. From Diagnosis to Solutions Naming problems is easy. The harder, more important work is solving them, and here I want to be constructive. On gas, the Federal Government needs to urgent
Don't miss out on breaking stories and in-depth articles.