Power outages persist as Nigeria’s grid taps just 32% of 13,625 MW installed capacity

Nigeria’s chronically beleaguered electricity grid generated just 4,102 megawatt-hours per hour in February 2026, barely a third of the country’s 13,625 MW installed generation base, according to the latest operational performance factsheet published by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission.

The figures lay bare a structural crisis that continues to hobble Africa’s largest economy, where businesses lose billions of naira annually to generator fuel costs and households endure rolling blackouts that can last more than 20 hours a day.

The grid’s average available capacity, the power plants can actually deliver at any given moment, stood at just 4,384 MW against a theoretical installed base of 13,625 MW, yielding a plant availability factor of a meagre 32 percent.

The load factor, which measures how efficiently available capacity is converted into electricity actually dispatched, came in at 93 percent grid-wide, suggesting that when power is available, operators are using it, but the fundamental constraint remains the yawning gap between installed and available capacity.

Top performers mask a deeper dysfunction

A handful of plants continue to carry a disproportionate share of Nigeria’s generation burden. The top ten energy producers accounted for 82 percent of total electricity generated during the month, a level of concentration that energy analysts say reflects both the unreliability of the broader fleet and the dominance of a few well-maintained hydro and gas assets.

Kainji_1, the veteran hydroelectric station on the Niger River, delivered an average of 574 MWh/h at a 99 percent load factor, the highest generation figure among the top ten. Jebba_1, another hydro asset, ran at 98 percent load factor producing 425 MWh/h.

The duo underscore the outsized role Nigeria’s dams play in stabilising a grid that gas turbines and steam plants repeatedly fail to anchor. Ihovbor_2 also distinguished itself, operating at 96 percent of its available 461 MW capacity.

By contrast, several thermal plants delivered deeply underwhelming results. Egbin_1, the flagship Lagos steam station with 1,320 MW of installed capacity, ran at just 37 percent plant availability, producing 465 MWh/h. Delta_1 managed 42 percent of its 900 MW potential.

Geregu_1, with 435 MW installed, produced only 106 MWh/h, a 23 percent availability rate that speaks to years of deferred maintenance and gas supply disruptions.

The full picture of Nigeria’s power sector dysfunction emerges from NERC’s data on other grid-connected plants. Alaoji_1, a 500 MW gas-fired facility operated by the Transmission Company of Nigeria, recorded zero megawatts of average available capacity and a zero percent plant availability factor, meaning it contributed absolutely nothing to the national grid in February.

Sapele Steam_1, with 720 MW installed, delivered a plant availability factor of just 3 percent, its 18 MW average available capacity making it little more than a line item on the register.

Some smaller plants, however, punched well above their weight. Ikeja_1, with just 110 MW installed, ran at a 95 percent plant availability factor, delivering 65 MWh/h at a 63 percent load factor.

Omoku_1 (150 MW installed) achieved a 21 percent availability factor but an impressive 95 percent load factor, suggesting it ran efficiently whenever gas was flowing. Olorunsogo_1 and Trans Amadi_1 both posted 100 percent load factors, though their installed capacities of 335 MW and 100 MW, respectively, limit their macro-level impact.