Lagos Targets 3,000MW Electricity Supply by March 2027

By Adedapo Adesanya

The Governor of Lagos State, Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu, has announced plans to increase electricity supply to more than 3,000 megawatts (MW) from the current level of below 1,000MW by March 2027.

The governor disclosed this at the fourth Lagos Business School Africa Energy Conference 2026, held on October 11, 2026, at the Lagos Business School, Lagos.

Mr Sanwo-Olu, who was represented by his deputy and governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state, Mr Kadri Obafemi Hamzat, said the state government was working to mobilise an additional 2,000MW through national grid resources, independent power projects, energy hubs, power barges, energy traders and embedded generation.

He said achieving the target would require coordinated improvements across the electricity value chain, including generation, transmission, distribution, gas supply and metering.

According to the governor, the state has outlined a seven-point action plan to make the Lagos Electricity Market fully functional, increase generation, strengthen distribution capacity, reinforce transmission infrastructure, improve networks and metering, strengthen gas-to-power arrangements, and enhance information technology and market visibility.

The government is also upgrading substations and distribution feeders, expanding metering coverage to reduce estimated billing, and strengthening coordination among electricity market operators and regulators to improve service delivery and attract private investment.

Mr Sanwo-Olu emphasised the importance of reliable gas supply to power plants and the deployment of digital systems, including Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA), Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) and the Lagos Electricity Intelligence Platform, to improve monitoring, accountability and transparency.

On renewable energy, the governor disclosed that about 42,000 of the approximately 50,000 streetlights earmarked for solarisation had been completed, while solarisation projects had also been completed in 175 public schools, with work ongoing at another 100 schools.

He called on investors, financial institutions, energy operators and development partners to collaborate with the state in delivering the electricity expansion plan, noting that reliable power supply was essential to industrial growth, job creation, business competitiveness and improved living standards.

The announcement follows the state government’s approval of 14 electricity licences and permits in May 2026 covering off-grid generation, embedded generation, independent distribution, metering services and interconnected mini-grid operations, as part of efforts to expand private-sector participation in Lagos’s intrastate electricity market.