FG Flags-off Ultra-Modern National Control Centre To Strengthen Power Grid Reliability
By Sunday Etuka
The Federal Government has started building a new ultra-modern National Control Centre (NCC) for the Nigerian Independent System Operator (NISO) in Osogbo, Osun State, replacing a 64-year-old facility that can no longer meet the demands of running the country’s grid.
Vice President Kashim Shettima, performed the groundbreaking on Wednesday, supported by the Minister of Power, Joseph Tegbe.
Represented by Alhaji Bashir Maidugu, Senior Special Assistant (Legal), Office of the Vice President, Shettima said reliable electricity is central to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda.
He described power as the foundation of a working economy, allowing manufacturers to plan production, small businesses to operate with confidence, and hospitals and schools to function, while also creating jobs and wider opportunity.
According to him, the National Control Centre is where that reliability is protected, and Nigeria cannot run a modern, interconnected grid with yesterday’s tools.
Giving an overview of the project, Tegbe said it will give NISO the ability to see what is happening across the national grid and respond promptly. He called it a concrete expression of the President’s determination to fix the underlying weaknesses in electricity supply.
Once commissioned, the centre will bring integrated SCADA, large format displays and analytics that help operators spot developing faults, plan preventive maintenance and make better use of existing generation and transmission capacity.
It will also improve responses to disturbances, support the integration of renewable energy and strengthen Nigeria’s coordination within the West African Power Pool, backed by stronger physical and cyber security.
For consumers and businesses, Tegbe said the expected payoff is fewer avoidable outages and a more dependable supply.
He cautioned, however, that this also depends on adequate gas feedstock, well maintained transmission equipment and distribution networks that can deliver power to end users.
The centre, he said, will strengthen the coordination that turns those investments into usable electricity.
The Managing Director and CEO of NISO, Engr. Abdu Bello Mohammed, said the centre will improve the agency’s visibility of the national grid, sharpen coordination and support faster, better informed responses to system disturbances, strengthening the security and resilience of supply.
He said better data from upgraded telemetry, SCADA and automatic metering will lead to better decisions and more reliable electricity and will also improve market settlement.
Mohammed noted that the new centre will equip NISO to meet the technical demands of the West African power system. He added that NISO is building skilled operators to run it to international standards, because technology does not operate the grid, people do.
The ceremony, which marks a new era of grid stability, was witnessed by the Board and Management of NISO, members of the National Assembly Committees on Power, leaders of various Distribution Companies, representatives of the Osun State Government, industry stakeholders and community leaders.
