Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, has unveiled plans to increase electricity supply in the state to more than 3,000 megawatts by March 2027, up from the current level of below 1,000MW, as his administration intensifies efforts to end persistent blackouts and build a 24-hour economy.
The governor said the state was working to mobilise an additional 2,000MW through a combination of national grid resources, independent power projects, energy hubs, power barges, energy traders and embedded generation.
Sanwo-Olu, who was represented by his deputy, Dr Kadri Obafemi Hamzat, disclosed this on Saturday at the fourth Lagos Business School Africa Energy Conference (AEC 2026), held at the Honeywell Auditorium, Lagos Business School, along the Lekki-Epe Expressway.
The conference was themed, “Securing Nigeria’s Energy Future: Policy Reform, Capital Mobilisation, and Pathways to a Sustainable Power and Energy Market.”
The ambitious electricity target comes amid persistent power supply challenges affecting businesses, households and industrial operations, with the state government seeking to establish a more reliable electricity market capable of supporting round-the-clock economic activities.
Sanwo-Olu acknowledged that achieving the target would require coordinated improvements across the entire electricity value chain, including generation, transmission, distribution, gas supply and metering.
To drive the plan, the governor outlined a seven-point action agenda aimed at making the Lagos Electricity Market fully functional, expanding electricity generation, strengthening distribution capacity, reinforcing transmission infrastructure, improving electricity networks and metering, securing gas-to-power arrangements, and deploying information technology to enhance market visibility.
He said the government was working to strengthen transmission infrastructure, upgrade substations and distribution feeders, and expand metering coverage to reduce estimated billing and improve electricity service delivery.
The governor also stressed the need for clear contractual obligations and stronger coordination among electricity market operators and regulators, noting that a commercially viable environment would be critical to attracting the private investment required to bridge the state’s power deficit.
On gas supply, Sanwo-Olu emphasised the need for reliable fuel arrangements for power plants, warning through his policy priorities that increased generation would depend on the availability of gas and effective coordination across the energy value chain.
He also highlighted plans to deploy digital technologies, including Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) systems, Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) and the Lagos Electricity Intelligence Platform, to strengthen monitoring, accountability and transparency in the electricity market.
The governor said the state had equally recorded progress in renewable energy, disclosing that approximately 42,000 of the 50,000 streetlights earmarked for solarisation had been completed.
He added that solarisation projects had been implemented in 175 public schools, while work was ongoing in another 100 schools as part of efforts to diversify energy sources and improve access to reliable electricity.
Sanwo-Olu called on investors, financial institutions, energy operators and development partners to collaborate with the state government in achieving the 3,000MW target.
According to him, reliable electricity remains essential to industrial expansion, job creation, business competitiveness and improved living standards.
He said the priority was now to ensure disciplined implementation of the proposed interventions and deliver measurable results that would support the development of a sustainable electricity market in Lagos.
If achieved, the target would significantly expand the electricity available to the state and strengthen efforts to position Lagos as a competitive destination for investment, manufacturing and other energy-intensive economic activities.
