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Nigeria’s gas-fired power plants are ageing, severely underperforming and dragging the country’s electricity sector into deeper crisis, according to a new report by the Natural Resource Governance Institute.

The report, titled “Nigeria’s Gas-to-Power Ambitions: Limits, Opportunities and Alternatives,” found that most of Nigeria’s gas power stations are at least halfway through their designed operational lifespan, with many suffering from years of deferred maintenance that electricity generation companies cannot afford to fix.

“Nigeria’s fleet of gas power plants is ageing and underperforming. Most of Nigeria’s gas power plants are at least halfway through their designed lifespan. Similar plants in other countries can last one to two decades longer, but only with costly maintenance and overhauls that Nigeria’s power generation companies cannot afford,” the report stated.

The institute found that steam turbine plants in Nigeria average 44 years old despite a design life of 30 to 40 years. In 2024, only three of the country’s 21 gas-fired thermal and steam power plants generated more than half of their installed capacity, while several remained completely idle throughout the year.

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The report singled out the National Integrated Power Projects as among the worst-performing assets in the sector.

“Arguably the worst cases are the National Integrated Power Projects, a series of large, mostly open-cycle plants built with government money in the 2000s and early 2010s. Today, most of these plants are barely running or are mothballed. Some shut down almost as soon as construction ended,” it said.

The national grid rarely delivers more than 4,000 megawatts at a time, a figure the report noted is the same as a decade ago and ten times less than Tokyo, and eight times less than South Africa, whose population is roughly one-third of Nigeria’s.

The institute warned that Nigeria would struggle to meet its electricity access targets by relying on gas alone and argued that decentralised solar now presents a more practical and affordable path forward.

“Off-grid and small-scale solar systems have more potential than gas to deliver affordable power to unserved Nigerians. Solar can also replace private generators, which are expensive, polluting and powered by dirty fuel,” the report said.

It called on policymakers to revise ambitions for gas power and invest in policies that help renewables scale more efficiently and equitably.

The Traffic NG
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Hibbatullah Shittu
The Traffic NG

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