Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu has reaffirmed his administration’s commitment to ending persistent power outages in the state, setting a target of raising electricity supply to about 3.5 gigawatts (GW).
Sanwo-Olu spoke at the Lagos State High-Level Strategic Power Town Hall Meeting, convened to assess the state’s electricity challenges and develop practical solutions to improve generation, transmission and distribution.
The meeting brought together key stakeholders across the electricity value chain, including regulators, distribution companies, transmission operators, investors, asset managers and representatives of the Federal Government.
The Special Adviser to the President on Power and Chairman of the Presidential Task Force on Power Sector Reset and Restoration, Dr Rilwan Babalola, said the challenge facing Lagos and Nigeria was no longer simply about generating more electricity but about building a functional and sustainable electricity market.
Babalola said Nigeria needed to move away from a system in which government continually serves as the buyer, guarantor and absorber of losses across the electricity value chain.
He said the proposed Clean Lagos Electricity Market (CLEM) could transform Lagos’ huge electricity demand into a structured and investible market through demand aggregation, bilateral contracts, open access, payment assurance and transparent settlement.
According to him, the proposed initial 500MW CLEM project must first prove that electricity can be supplied reliably, properly metered and paid for before the model is expanded.
Babalola said stakeholders must establish clear demand and customer profiles, sources of power and gas, network capacity, appropriate tariffs and transparent payment arrangements for generators, network operators and gas suppliers.
He also highlighted opportunities created by the decentralisation of Nigeria’s electricity sector following constitutional amendments and the Electricity Act, which allow states to establish and regulate their electricity markets.
He, however, cautioned against fragmentation, stressing the importance of coordination between state electricity markets, the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), interstate electricity trading and the national transmission network.
The Lagos State Commissioner for Energy and Mineral Resources, Biodun Ogunleye, said the town hall was aimed at ending what he described as the “culture of blackout” in the state.
Ogunleye said the state had conducted studies and engaged critical stakeholders to identify the major barriers to reliable electricity supply and agree on practical solutions.
He disclosed that Lagos currently receives less than 1GW from the national grid, despite the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) having the capacity to transmit about 3.5GW.
The commissioner said the state was working to secure an additional 2GW, with the ultimate objective of achieving approximately 3.5GW in electricity supply.
He said attaining the target would allow more electricity feeders to operate and improve supply to homes, businesses and industries across Lagos.
Ogunleye added that newly inaugurated substations would strengthen the state’s electricity infrastructure, while the government would work with distribution companies to monitor selected feeders and measure improvements in supply.
On electricity tariffs, he said consumers should not be made to “pay for darkness,” arguing that improved metering and infrastructure must accompany any tariff increase.
Meanwhile, the Chief Executive Officer of the Lagos State Electricity Regulatory Commission (LASERC), Temitope George, identified inadequate generation and transmission capacity, energy theft, vandalism and non-payment of electricity bills as major challenges confronting the sector.
George said electricity demand in Lagos, which had previously exceeded 1,500MW, had recently fallen below 1,000MW.
She urged consumers to pay for the electricity they consume, warning that non-payment distorts the market and ultimately undermines efforts to achieve reliable supply.
The regulator also disclosed that Lagos was restructuring its existing Independent Power Projects (IPPs) to make them bankable without placing excessive pressure on government finances.
George said the state was also exploring embedded power generation to complement electricity from the national grid and reduce dependence on the national system.
She said the ongoing decentralisation of the electricity sector should ultimately help create a more efficient and sustainable electricity market for Lagos.
