The Nigerian Independent System Operator has recorded a significant drop in transmission losses on the national grid, reducing them to 7.05 percent from nearly 10 percent at the agency’s inception, its Managing Director has disclosed.
Speaking at NISO’s first anniversary in Abuja, Abdu Mohammed Bello said the reduction followed targeted operational interventions aimed at improving efficiency across the transmission network.
He noted that high transmission losses had previously cost the electricity market between N5 billion and N8 billion monthly, stressing that the current improvement marks a major milestone in stabilising the sector.
“We recorded a very high transmission loss factor at some point, close to 10 percent. We have reduced it to 7.05 percent at the moment and we are working to reduce it further to five or six percent,” Bello said.
The NISO boss attributed the progress to enhanced coordination across generation, transmission, and distribution segments, as well as improved monitoring of grid operations.
He explained that enforcing the free governor mode of operation for generating companies, which ensures power plants automatically respond to fluctuations in system frequency, was critical to grid stability. According to him, compliance with the directive has improved grid stability and reduced frequency deviations, though some operators are yet to fully comply.
“We are working very closely with generation companies to advance implementation of free governor mode operations. We have seen a lot of improvement in system frequency and overall grid reliability,” he said, adding that enforcement actions would be taken against defaulting GenCos.
In addition, NISO is scaling up the deployment of Internet of Things technology across the electricity value chain, particularly mandating distribution companies to install IoT meters on their 33kV and 11kV feeders.
Bello explained that IoT integration, alongside ongoing SCADA/EMS implementation, would enable system operators to monitor the grid in real time, improve data accuracy, and support faster market settlements.
“By the time we complete the IoT deployment across generation, transmission and distribution, we will achieve end-to-end visibility of the grid,” he said.
