Nigeria has commenced the replacement of its 64-year-old National Control Centre in Osogbo, Osun State, with a modern facility designed to improve real-time management, monitoring and coordination of the country’s electricity grid.
The project is expected to provide the Nigerian Independent System Operator with more advanced technology for supervising electricity generation and transmission as the national grid expands beyond the capabilities of the existing control infrastructure.
The Federal Government formally broke ground for the new National Control Centre on September 30, with officials positioning the project as part of efforts to modernise the infrastructure responsible for coordinating power flows across Nigeria.
The existing Osogbo control centre has operated for about 64 years, during which Nigeria’s electricity network has expanded considerably in generation capacity, transmission infrastructure and the number of market participants requiring coordination.
NISO is responsible for operating the national grid independently, balancing electricity generation with demand and coordinating the movement of electricity through the transmission network.
The new facility is expected to strengthen those functions through improved visibility of activities across the power system.
New Technology to Improve Grid Monitoring
The control centre will incorporate Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition technology, commonly known as SCADA, alongside upgraded telemetry, automatic metering infrastructure, grid analytics and modern control displays.
Together, the systems will allow operators to receive more detailed information from different parts of the electricity network and respond more quickly when operating conditions change.
This is particularly important for a power system where disturbances in one section of the transmission network can spread rapidly if operators do not have sufficient visibility or cannot intervene quickly.
Improved real-time information should also help NISO manage available generation and transmission capacity more efficiently and identify potential system problems before they develop into wider disruptions.
Beyond physical grid management, the new infrastructure is expected to improve the quality of data used for electricity-market operations.
More accurate metering and operational information should strengthen settlement among electricity generators, transmission operators, distribution companies and other market participants by providing better data on energy delivered through the system.
NISO Had Already Moved Project Into Construction
Although the Federal Government formally performed the groundbreaking ceremony in September, development of the new control facility had begun months earlier.
NISO handed over the project site to FBS Construction Engineering Services Limited in April 2026 as part of preparations for construction of the new National Control Room in Osogbo.
The September ceremony therefore represents another stage in the project’s implementation rather than the first step towards developing the facility.
The investment forms part of a wider programme to strengthen NISO’s ability to operate an increasingly complex electricity market following reforms that separated system operation from the Transmission Company of Nigeria.
NISO formally assumed responsibility for independent system and market operations in 2025 following implementation of provisions contained in the Electricity Act 2023.
Renewable Energy, Regional Electricity Trade
The upgraded control infrastructure is also expected to become increasingly important as Nigeria adds more renewable generation to its electricity mix.
Solar and other intermittent sources can change output according to weather conditions, requiring system operators to monitor electricity supply and demand more closely than conventional generation alone.
More sophisticated grid-management technology would allow NISO to integrate such generation while maintaining the frequency and stability required across