Lagos State has received a major boost to its electricity transmission infrastructure following the commissioning of upgraded substations at Ijora and Apapa Road, with the Federal Government adding 208 megawatts of bulk transmission capacity to the national grid.
The projects, commissioned on Monday, August 17, 2026, are expected to strengthen electricity delivery to several industrial, commercial and residential communities across the Lagos metropolis, particularly areas served by the Eko Electricity Distribution Company.
The intervention comes as the Federal Government intensifies efforts to address transmission bottlenecks that have continued to limit the amount of electricity that can be delivered from the national grid to consumers.
The two projects have significantly increased the capacity of the affected substations. At the Ijora 132/33kV transmission substation, two newly installed 100MVA transformers have raised the facility’s installed capacity from 90MVA to 230MVA.
That expansion represents an additional 112MW of bulk transmission capacity for the area.
The upgraded Ijora facility is expected to strengthen electricity supply to communities and business districts including Ijora, Costain, Oyingbo and Customs, as well as neighbouring areas within the EKEDC franchise.
The Apapa Road transmission substation has also undergone a major capacity expansion. The installation and energisation of two new 60MVA transformers, alongside modern Gas Insulated Switchgear, increased the station’s capacity from 60MVA to 180MVA.
The upgrade provides an additional 96MW of transmission capacity, bringing the combined increase from the two projects to 208MW.
The Apapa Road project also involved the replacement of an outdoor transformer that had been deployed as a temporary solution after the original facility, commissioned in 1985, was decommissioned.
Speaking during the commissioning of the Ijora project, the Minister of Power, Joseph Tegbe, said the projects were part of the Federal Government’s broader strategy to remove structural constraints that have affected Nigeria’s electricity supply system.
Tegbe stressed that the importance of the Ijora project extended beyond simply installing new transformers, pointing out that the substation serves one of Lagos’ most economically important corridors.
The area contains a concentration of industries, port-related activities, commercial establishments and densely populated residential communities, all of which require dependable electricity to operate efficiently.
The Minister explained that the former Ijora substation had three 30MVA transformers, giving it a combined installed capacity of 90MVA. In practical terms, the capacity translated to approximately 72MW.
However, rapid population growth, expanding commercial activities and increasing industrial demand had outgrown the available infrastructure.
The resulting pressure on the facility contributed to suppressed load and restrictions on the amount of electricity that could be transmitted to consumers in the area.
Tegbe said the latest investment was designed to change that situation by creating additional room for bulk electricity transmission.
He said the 112MW increase at Ijora would support greater economic activity by allowing more electricity to be delivered to businesses, industries and households connected to the network.
The Minister also clarified that the Federal Government’s power-sector objective was not simply to increase electricity generation.
According to him, generation must be matched by a transmission network capable of moving available electricity to locations where it is required.
This issue has remained one of the major challenges facing Nigeria’s power sector, as inadequate transmission capacity has periodically prevented available generation from being fully evacuated and delivered to consumers.
Tegbe said investments in transmission infrastructure were therefore essential to ensuring that additional power generated in the country translated into improved electricity availability for Nigerians.
He linked the ongoing infrastructure expansion to President Bola Tinubu’s economic ambitions, including the goal of transforming Nigeria into a $1 trillion economy.
The Minister argued that dependable electricity was fundamental to achieving such economic growth because businesses and industries require stable power to reduce operating costs, increase productivity and expand their activities.
The Federal Government acknowledged the contributions of the Transmission Company of Nigeria, the Nigerian Independent System Operator, the World Bank, Shanghai Electric Group Company Limited and other technical and development partners involved in the projects.
At the Apapa Road substation, the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Transmission Company of Nigeria, Sule Ahmed Abdulaziz, provided further details about the upgrade.
He said the installation and energisation of the two new 60MVA transformers, combined with the modern GIS equipment, had effectively tripled the substation’s capacity from 60MVA to 180MVA.
The increased capacity is expected to provide more bulk electricity for EKEDC to distribute to customers across several important parts of Lagos.
Areas expected to benefit include Apapa Causeway, Ijora, Amukoko, Ajegunle, Apapa Wharf and Tin Can Island, among other major commercial and industrial locations.
The significance of the Apapa Road upgrade is particularly important because of the concentration of economic activities around the Apapa axis. The area accommodates major port operations, industries, warehouses, businesses and large residential communities whose operations depend heavily on electricity.
Abdulaziz described the two projects as evidence of the Federal Government’s efforts to modernise Nigeria’s ageing transmission infrastructure and improve the stability of the national electricity grid.
He disclosed that the projects received support from the Japan International Cooperation Agency and the World Bank in partnership with the Transmission Company of Nigeria.
The TCN chief executive, however, called for additional grant support to enable the company to rehabilitate and upgrade other critical portions of the country’s transmission network.
The latest intervention is expected to provide additional headroom for electricity transmission in Lagos, although the increased transmission capacity does not automatically mean that 208MW of new electricity generation has been added to the national grid.
Rather, the projects increase the network’s ability to receive and transmit available power to distribution companies and, ultimately, consumers.
This distinction remains important in Nigeria’s power sector, where generation, transmission and distribution capacity must work together before consumers can experience sustained improvements in electricity supply.
For Lagos, the upgraded Ijora and Apapa Road substations could nevertheless provide greater flexibility for electricity distribution, particularly in areas where demand has risen faster than existing infrastructure.
The projects also form part of the wider effort to strengthen the transmission network and remove bottlenecks that have historically contributed to power supply limitations.
With Lagos serving as Nigeria’s commercial and industrial hub, improvements in electricity infrastructure in the State could have implications beyond individual neighbourhoods, potentially supporting manufacturing, port operations, small businesses, commercial centres and residential consumers.
The Federal Government’s latest investment therefore places renewed emphasis on the transmission component of Nigeria’s electricity value chain, with the aim of ensuring that available generation can be moved more efficiently to high-demand areas.
The commissioning of the two upgraded substations marks another step in that direction, with the combined 208MW increase expected to expand the amount of bulk power that can be transmitted into key areas of Lagos.
The Government is now expected to sustain similar interventions across other parts of the national transmission network as it seeks to improve grid reliability and support its broader economic development programme.
The Ijora and Apapa Road upgrades also underline the growing need for continued investment in infrastructure capable of matching Nigeria’s rising electricity demand, particularly in densely populated and economically strategic locations.
If successfully integrated with improvements in generation and distribution, the additional transmission capacity could help create a more reliable electricity supply chain for businesses and households across Lagos.