A recent report by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) has revealed that more than 60% of Nigeria’s installed power generation capacity was unavailable for supply to the national grid in the third quarter of 2025, highlighting persistent challenges in the country’s electricity sector.
According to the report, the average Plant Availability Factor (PAF) across the 28 grid-connected power plants stood at just 39.86%, meaning that the majority of the nation’s generation capacity could not be dispatched at any time during the period. This represents only a marginal increase from 39.60% in the previous quarter, suggesting limited progress in improving plant operational readiness.
The report showed significant disparities among power plants. Ikeja Power Plant (Unit 1) led with a PAF of 99.24%, while Sapele Steam Plant (Unit 1) recorded a mere 2.66%. Alaoji Power Plant (Unit 1) failed to generate electricity throughout the quarter.
Some plants, including Dadin-Kowa, Zungeru, and Okpai, saw notable improvements due to better hydrology and reduced outages. Conversely, Ihovbor (Unit 2) and several others experienced sharp declines in availability.
NERC attributed the fluctuations in plant performance to mechanical faults, fuel supply issues, hydrological factors, and operational limitations, long-standing issues that continue to restrict Nigeria’s generation capacity.
The report also highlighted weaknesses on the distribution side. Average energy offtake by electricity distribution companies (DisCos) fell by 7.1% compared to the previous quarter, despite sufficient generation and transmission availability. Only Benin and Port Harcourt DisCos met the regulatory target of taking at least 95% of their contracted capacity, while Kaduna recorded the lowest offtake at 75.23%.
These figures underscore the persistent gap between installed generation capacity and actual electricity delivered to consumers, forcing continued reliance on self-generation and contributing to high energy costs.
The report comes amid ongoing government reforms aimed at stabilising the electricity market, including decentralised state-led power initiatives and new measures to improve grid liquidity.
However, experts warn that stronger generation from a few plants alone cannot overcome long-standing structural inefficiencies, ageing equipment, gas supply bottlenecks, and transmission limitations.
