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By Stella Odueme
The Nigerian Independent System Operator (NISO) has called for improved coordination, accurate data and stronger operational discipline in the planning and utilisation of Nigeria’s hydropower resources to enhance electricity supply and strengthen national grid stability.
The Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of NISO made the call at the opening of the 2026 Hydro Generation Planning Meeting at the Jebba Hydro Power Station in Niger State.
The five-day meeting, held from August 17 to 21, brought together key stakeholders in the electricity sector, including officials of the Federal Ministry of Power, Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), generating companies, Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), distribution companies, water-resource authorities, development partners and industry experts.
The NISO chief executive said the meeting was designed to collectively review the performance and availability of hydroelectric plants, maintenance requirements, hydrological conditions, generation projections and operational constraints affecting the country’s hydro fleet.
He said the outcome should be an integrated generation plan capable of improving the reliability, security and efficiency of the national electricity grid.
According to him, hydropower remains strategically important to Nigeria’s power system, not only because of the energy it contributes to the national grid but also because of its operational flexibility.
He listed frequency regulation, reserve provision, voltage support and system restoration among the key benefits of hydropower.
The NISO boss disclosed that the System Operator had intensified enforcement of Free Governor Control compliance across the generation fleet, including field inspections, conditional derogations and penalties for non-compliance in line with NERC directives.
He said the initiative was aimed at ensuring that the flexibility and governor-response capabilities declared by generating stations were demonstrated in actual grid operations.
“Every hydro unit in your various plants has a governor-response profile that NISO can see. That visibility should inform how we plan together, not just how we enforce afterward,” he said.
He explained that hydro generation planning was influenced by several factors, including reservoir levels, water inflows and releases, seasonal hydrological conditions, dam-management requirements, generating-unit availability, maintenance schedules, forced outages, turbine and generator limitations, transmission capacity and electricity demand.
He therefore stressed the need for all relevant stakeholders to participate in a coordinated planning process based on accurate and timely information.
From Planning to Action
The NISO chief executive warned against producing generation plans that remain largely on paper, stressing that planning must be closely linked to operational implementation.
He identified accurate hydrological forecasts, timely generation availability declarations, maintenance and outage schedules, unit capability information, reservoir data, transmission outage schedules and real-time communication as essential to effective grid management.
He said weaknesses in any of these areas could affect generation scheduling and ultimately compromise grid security.
The NISO boss also highlighted the growing importance of hydropower as Nigeria diversifies its electricity generation mix.
He noted that the increasing penetration of renewable energy and other variable generation sources would require greater flexibility from the System Operator.
According to him, hydroelectric plants, where technically capable and compliant with governor-performance requirements, could provide the rapid response needed to balance fluctuations in generation and demand.
He consequently called for increased investment in the rehabilitation, refurbishment and modernisation of existing hydroelectric infrastructure, as well as the development of new viable hydropower resources.
Data-Driven System
On digitalisation, he said NISO was advancing its modern control centre and operational intelligence systems programme to improve visibility and decision-making across the power system.
He said the programme would strengthen the use of Energy Management Systems, SCADA, Internet of Things technologies, state estimation and contingency analysis.
He added that improved integration of hydrological information, reservoir levels, inflow forecasts, unit availability, demand forecasts, transmission constraints and real-time system conditions would enable NISO to move from predominantly historical planning towards predictive and risk-informed generation planning.
Maintenance and Compliance
The NISO chief executive also urged generating companies to prioritise preventive and predictive maintenance to improve the availability of hydroelectric generating units.
He noted that installed capacity alone did not determine a power station’s contribution to the national grid, stressing that actual available capacity and operational readiness were equally important.
He further advocated structured and time-bound measures to address compliance gaps.
According to him, NISO would rather work with operators to achieve full compliance than rely exclusively on punitive measures after violations occur.
The NISO boss said the meeting was expected to produce an implementable framework covering hydro generation projections, water-resource availability, maintenance and outage schedules, generating-unit constraints, governor-response compliance, coordination with thermal and renewable generation, reserve requirements and transmission limitations.
He also called for clearly assigned responsibilities and timelines for implementing the decisions reached at the meeting.
He stressed that the resolutions must not be allowed to lapse after the meeting, directing that agreed actions be captured in a tracking register and periodically reviewed until implementation.
“The success of this meeting should be measured not by the quality of the presentations delivered here, but by the quality of the decisions taken and the extent to which those decisions translate into improved generation availability, enhanced grid security and greater electricity supply to Nigerians,” he said.
He reaffirmed NISO’s commitment to working with all stakeholders to ensure that Nigeria’s hydropower resources are efficiently integrated into the national generation mix and deployed to support a more reliable, resilient and flexible electricity system.