Recent trends in Nigeria’s power sector suggest that infrastructure development will be the defining factor shaping electricity performance in 2026, despite notable policy and revenue reforms recorded over the past two years.
The years 2024 and 2025 marked a pivotal phase for the sector, with electricity market revenues growing by approximately 70 per cent following the introduction of cost-reflective tariffs and the launch of the National Integrated Electricity Policy (NIEP), a long-term framework designed to address regulatory, investment, and structural challenges.
However, these reforms have yet to translate into proportional improvements in power delivery. Despite an installed generation capacity estimated at 12,000–13,500 megawatts, actual available generation in 2025 rarely exceeded 5,500 MW, highlighting persistent constraints across gas supply, transmission, and distribution infrastructure.
According to Tola Ibironke, General Manager, Systems Engineering at PPC Limited (www.ppcng.com), this contrast reflects a sector that has begun to stabilise financially but now faces its most critical test: execution.
“Nigeria has made meaningful progress in fixing the economics of the power sector,” Ibironke said. “The next phase must focus on fixing the infrastructure, strengthening transmission systems, modernising distribution networks, and deploying resilient power solutions, without which policy gains cannot be fully realised.”
Regional comparisons reinforce this point. Countries such as Ghana, with smaller generation capacity, have achieved higher electricity access and more reliable supply by aligning policy reforms with systematic infrastructure upgrades and sustained grid investment.
As Nigeria looks toward 2026, PPC Limited, drawing on its experience in engineering and infrastructure services, notes that reliability, resilience, and system integration, rather than headline capacity figures, will define success in the power sector.
Ibironke added that the conversation is increasingly shifting from how much power Nigeria can generate to how reliably it can deliver it, placing infrastructure development at the centre of the sector’s future.
