On August 1, 2026, I had the pleasure to speak at a webinar organized by the IEEE Industry Applications Society (IAS), Nigeria section. My presentation focused on “Smart Grid and Industrial Power Systems.”
The purpose of the webinar was to discuss how smart-grid technologies can help improve the reliability, efficiency, visibility and resilience. Since smart grid is a broad topic to discuss in 60 minutes, I provided background and perspective of Nigeria’s electricity system, especially for industrial facilities.
Understanding the Smart Grid
A smart grid combines the traditional electrical power network with advanced sensors, communication systems, automation, and intelligent control algorithms.
On the other hand, a conventional or traditional power grid mainly delivers electricity. Bear in mind that, traditional power systems also has some sensors, communication systems, and performs some level of controls but not to the extend of what a smart grid is capable of delivering in modern electrical systems.
Moreover, we emphasized that a smart grid delivers electricity while also providing the information (processed data) and control needed to monitor system conditions and respond more effectively to any operational condition.
During the presentation, I briefly discussed technologies such as:
- Advanced metering infrastructure (AMI)
- Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA)
- Distribution Management Systems (DMS)
- Automated protection and switching
- Battery energy storage systems
- Distributed energy resources
- Industrial microgrids
- Predictive maintenance
- Demand response
- Cybersecurity for power systems
Looking at Nigeria’s Electricity Journey
As an engineer, I appreciate the history or background of how technologies start and continue to emerge. As such, I talked about Nigeria’s electricity journey which began in Lagos in 1896 with a generating installation of approximately 60 kW. The system reportedly consisted of two 30 kW generators that supplied streetlights and selected government buildings.
In 1923, the Ijora Power Station introduced centralized thermal generation on a much larger scale with installed capacity of 20 MW. The development of Kainji Hydroelectric Power Station in the 1960s later helped establish a more interconnected national electricity system.
Over the years, Nigeria’s power sector evolved from the Electricity Corporation of Nigeria to National Electric Power Authority (NEPA), to Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) and the present structure of generation, transmission and distribution companies. There is a lot of history there like any other country, the systems that manage the power and energy sector continue to undergo reforms. These reforms are generally meant to improve and be more efficient.
However, the growth of the power system has also created new operational challenges. A disturbance in one part of an interconnected grid can spread quickly and lead to widespread outages if the system is not properly monitored and controlled.
Why Smart Grids Matter to Nigeria
Nigeria has approximately 14 GW (13,625 MW) of installed grid connected generation capacity.
However, only 31% is dispatchable (4,286 MW) according to the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) as of April 2026 Operational Performance Factsheet.
Recently, Nigeria has faced back-to-back nationwide electricity power outages (2024 October is worst). Despite the fact that several factors led to those blackouts, it is economically depressing to the businesses, homes, and most especially, critical facilities.
Nigeria like many other developing countries still need continuous but massive improvement in grid visibility, advanced metering infrastructure (AMI), automation, and technologies like Phasor Measurement Units (PMUs) among others to provide resilience and security to power assets.
Without a reliable electricity supply and affordability, Nigeria’s goal of $1 trillion dollar economy by 2030 is unrealistic. Moreover, the World Bank has estimated nearly $28 billion dollars economic cost due to power shortages, equivalent to 2% of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
Evidently, Nigeria’s electricity challenges go beyond installed generation capacity. We talked about some of the key issues that needs attention such as:
- Limited system visibility
- Inadequate metering
- Transmission and distribution constraints
- Aging equipment
- Technical and commercial losses
- Voltage and frequency instability
- Slow fault detection and restoration
- Protection coordination challenges
- Dependence on diesel and petrol generators
Smart-grid technologies can help utilities detect problems earlier, isolate faulted sections, restore unaffected customers faster and make better operational decisions using real-time data.
However, I also emphasized that installing smart meters alone does not make a grid smart. We need more that just installing technology. Reliable communication infrastructures, accurate system models, automation, cybersecurity, trained personnel and proper equipment maintenance are equally important.
Smart Industrial Power Systems
This is the most interesting part and most people perceive industries differently. It is true that we need industries to massive grow our economies and lift large number of people from poverty.
Industrial facilities require more than access to electricity. They need reliable supply, stable voltage and frequency, acceptable power quality, effective protection and predictable energy costs.
Interruptions, voltage sags, harmonics and poor power factor can lead to equipment trips, production losses, motor overheating, transformer stress and damage to sensitive but also critical and expensive systems or equipment.
A smart industrial power system can coordinate:
- Utility power
- Solar PV
- Battery energy storage
- Gas or standby generators
- Critical and non-critical loads
- Protection and control systems
- Plant energy-management systems
Industrial microgrids are particularly important because they can allow critical processes to continue operating when the main grid is unavailable. They can also reduce generator fuel consumption, manage peak demand and improve the integration of renewable energy.
The point here is that, we need more diversity in power supply backed by intelligent systems to achieve electricity reliability and security.
A Practical Roadmap
In the end, we summarized our session and looked at the roadmap into the future.
Basically, a smart grid for electricity delivery integrates two-way digital communication technologies that uses advanced sensors and automation into conventional power grid to allow electricity and information (data) flow in both directions simultaneously – that is between utility providers and consumers.
We talked about differences between traditional and smart grids considering protection, communication, fault detection and restoration, grid collapse, self-healing, data visibility, and metering technology among others.
Metering is very important here for many reasons. In most developing nations, it is not uncommon practice where users temper meters, or by-pass metering.
With AMI metering, utility providers can detect tempering, provide time of use pricing, remote disconnection/reconnection, real-time information to consumers, which re-enforces quality of services, transparency, and efficient billing.
I gave an example of how customers receive fast and live messages from utilities such scheduled maintenance, power outages, estimated time of restoration, billing data & insights among others in developed countries. The customers can also report issues live from web or apps to utilities. The flow is seamless.
The session was exciting despite the fact that the webinar only lasted 1 hour with Q&A, the key takeaways are evident.
Lastly, modern power systems has evolved with growing interconnection of inverter based resources and different types of loads that the traditional grid was not design decades ago to handle.
We need to continuously modernize our grid to meet today’s needs without compromising due diligence.
Nigeria does not have to implement every advanced smart-grid technology at once. A practical transition can happen in phases such as:
Make the system visible: Improve metering, asset records, network models and power-quality monitoring.
Make the system controllable: Expand SCADA, feeder automation, protection coordination and outage-management systems.
Make the system flexible: Integrate energy storage, distributed generation, microgrids and demand response.
Make the system intelligent: Apply forecasting, predictive maintenance, data analytics and optimized grid operation.
Key Takeaway
From all that we talked about, it is evident that Nigeria has the installed capacity but only 31% is available for use. Hence, Nigeria does not necessarily need to copy another country’s smart-grid model. It needs a strategy designed around its own electricity challenges, industrial priorities, available energy resources and regulatory structure.
The smartest grid is not necessarily the grid with the most technology. It is the grid that uses the right technology to deliver measurable improvements in reliability, affordability, safety and productivity.
I sincerely appreciate IEEE IAS Nigeria for the invitation and the opportunity to share these insights with engineers, energy professionals, students and other participants.
The conversation about Nigeria’s smart-grid future must continue because a reliable electricity system is essential for industrial development, economic growth and improved quality of life.
See the posted on LinkedIn. Click on the button below to freely download the presentation slides. Let me know your feedback in the comment.
Thank you!
