Nigeria’s power Generation Companies (Gencos) have suffered a staggering N2.28 trillion in lost capacity payments over the last decade due to the system’s inability to evacuate available electricity. Data released by the Association of Power Generation Companies (APGC) on Tuesday, January 20, 2026, reveals that between 2015 and 2025, a massive portion of installed power remained “stranded”, meaning the electricity was available but could not be sent to consumers because of weak transmission and distribution infrastructure.
The report highlights that 2016 was the worst year on record for the sector, with 54.38% of generated power left idle, costing the industry N273.32 billion in a single year. While utilization has improved slightly in recent years, approximately 33.6% of Nigeria’s power potential remained stranded in 2025.
This persistent gap is primarily blamed on technical constraints, including an unstable national grid that suffered 12 collapses in 2024 alone, and the limited capacity of the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) to handle the output from thermal and hydro plants.
The financial implications of this idle capacity have created a liquidity crisis that threatens the entire value chain. Gencos are often required to pay for gas supply to keep plants ready, even when the grid cannot take the power, leading to a debt overhang now estimated at over N5 trillion.
To mitigate these local losses, many Gencos are now looking toward the West African Power Pool (WAPP), which is expected to achieve full synchronization by June 2026, allowing Nigerian generators to sell their excess “stranded” power to neighboring countries for foreign
 have suffered a staggering N2.28 trillion in lost capacity payments over the last decade due to the system’s inability to evacuate available electricity.Data released by the Association of Power Generation Companies (APGC) on Tuesday, January 20, 2026, reveals that between 2015 and 2025, a massive portion of installed power remained "stranded”, meaning the electricity was available but could not be sent to consumers because of weak transmission and distribution infrastructure.){kind=link}