Some of the country’s leading companies are striving to provide sustainable off-grid energy solutions as Nigeria grapples with unreliable national grid.
These businesses are expanding their reach to offer alternatives that could ease the country’s chronic power shortages with the national electricity grid unable to meet the demands of the population.
Among the major players in this off-grid energy expansion are some of Nigeria’s largest companies. Pure Flour Mills Limited, based in Rivers State, has secured a permit to generate 546MW of electricity, while Nigeria LNG is responsible for 360MW. The United Cement Company of Nigeria Limited (Lafarge Africa Limited) generates 105MW, while Total E&P Nigeria Limited produces 174MW, and Esso Exploration & Production Nigeria Limited adds 76MW.
Other significant contributors include First Global Commerce Solutions Limited (77MW), Flour Mills of Nigeria Plc (70MW), and Lafarge Cement Wapco Nigeria Plc (90MW).
Read also: All On, USADF renew $10m deal to expand off-grid energy in Nigeria
BusinessDay’s findings showed that rising energy costs are disrupting productive activities in Africa’s most populous nation as factories self-generate more than 14,000 megawatts of electricity through electricity generators and other off-grid sources due to poor supply from power distribution companies.
Data sourced from the Nigeria Electricity System Operator showed Generation Companies (Gencos)’ delivery to the Distribution Companies (Discos) via the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) has increased by 22 percent from an average of 3,400mw in November 2013 to an average generation of 4,160mw, as at January 2025.
However, Dangote’s oil refinery produced 1,500mw of power after construction in 2018, surpassing the total national grid expansion achieved over a decade.
According to documents compiled by the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria, member companies spent N639 billion on alternative energy sources between 2014 and 2021.