Decentralization ought to create extra funding alternatives, not fragmentation in Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry – NISO MD

The Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Independent System Operator (NISO), Engr. Abdul Bello Mohammed, has known as for stronger synergy amongst stakeholders within the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry (NESI).

The NISO MD warned that the decentralization of the sector ought to create extra alternatives for funding and progress reasonably than end in fragmented infrastructure and poorly coordinated improvement.

Mohammed, who made the decision on the ongoing Africa Energy Leadership Summit 2026, held on the Landmark Centre, in Lagos.

He stated Nigeria’s evolving electrical energy market required a extra coordinated method to infrastructure planning, system operations and data administration as extra states set up their very own electrical energy markets and regulatory establishments below the Electricity Act 2023.

The NISO boss defined that the emergence of a number of electrical energy markets, unbiased transmission infrastructure suppliers, decentralized technology and new distribution networks was altering the calls for on the nation’s electrical energy system.

Mohammed stated NISO was increasing its position past standard grid operations to function a impartial technical integrator, system coordinator and market facilitator, offering the planning, operational and market coordination interfaces wanted to make sure that totally different establishments and market individuals perform effectively throughout the wider electrical energy ecosystem.

He, nevertheless, clarified that NISO’s evolving position didn’t make it a regulator of state electrical energy markets or diminish the statutory duties of the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) and State Electricity Regulatory Authorities.

According to him, “effective coordination had become increasingly important as state electricity networks connect to the national transmission grid, exchange electricity across state boundaries or depend on shared transmission infrastructure. But poorly coordinated investments could undermine the benefits of decentralization.”

To tackle these challenges, Mohammed stated NISO was advancing the applying of Integrated Resource Planning methodologies to make sure that investments in technology, transmission and distribution complemented each other, had been technically appropriate, economically justified and aligned with the trade’s long-term improvement wants.

While figuring out digitalization and entry to dependable trade knowledge as important to bettering coordination, transparency and investor confidence, he disclosed that NISO was pursuing the event of a centralized NESI knowledge infrastructure to consolidate, validate, handle and share important trade info.

“Our vision is a Nigerian electricity industry that is decentralized in its development opportunities, integrated in its infrastructure planning, coordinated in its operations, transparent in its market administration and attractive to sustainable private investment,” he stated.

He urged state governments, regulators, buyers, improvement companions and expertise suppliers to work with NISO to translate the alternatives created by the Electricity Act 2023 into measurable enhancements in electrical energy entry, reliability, affordability and financial improvement.