The Nigerian Independent System Operator (NISO) has called for a more coordinated and data-driven approach to hydropower generation planning, warning that the country’s hydroelectric assets must be operated with greater flexibility, reliability and discipline to strengthen national grid security.
The Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of NISO, in an address at the opening of the 2026 Hydro Generation Planning Meeting at the Jebba Hydro Power Station in Niger State, said hydropower is no longer simply about adding megawatts to the national grid.
According to him, the flexibility of hydroelectric power makes it increasingly critical to managing frequency, providing reserves, supporting voltage and responding to changing demand and generation conditions.
He particularly highlighted frequency regulation, noting that NISO has intensified enforcement of compliance with Free Governor Control across the generation fleet.
He said field inspections, time-bound derogations and penalties tied to Monthly Penalizable Capacity are being used to ensure generating plants deliver the flexibility they are expected to provide.
The NISO chief executive stressed that the ability of hydro plants to respond quickly to changes in system conditions must be demonstrated in actual operations, rather than existing only in planning documents.
“Every hydro unit in your various plants has a governor-response profile that NISO can see. That visibility should inform how we plan together, not just how we enforce afterward,” he said.
The five-day meeting, which runs from August 17 to 21, brings together representatives of the Federal Ministry of Power, the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, NISO, hydropower generating companies, the Transmission Company of Nigeria, distribution companies, water-resource and dam-management authorities, development partners and industry experts.
The meeting is designed to assess the performance and availability of Nigeria’s hydropower fleet, examine operational constraints and maintenance requirements, review water-resource conditions and develop generation projections that can support secure and economical operation of the national grid.
NISO said hydro generation planning must take into account a wide range of factors, including reservoir levels, water inflows and releases, seasonal conditions, dam-management requirements, generating-unit availability, planned and forced outages, turbine and generator limitations, transmission capacity and electricity demand.
The System Operator also called for closer coordination between generating companies, transmission operators, distribution companies, regulators and water-resource authorities.
It stressed that accurate and timely information on hydrology, generation availability, maintenance schedules, unit capabilities, reservoir levels and transmission outages is essential to producing reliable generation schedules.
According to NISO, a generation plan is only as effective as the information supporting it.
The organisation therefore wants stakeholders to improve real-time communication between generating stations and the System Operator and ensure that operational plans are realistic and capable of being implemented.
NISO also pointed to the changing structure of Nigeria’s electricity sector, with growing interest in renewable energy, embedded generation and distributed energy resources.
It said the evolving energy mix will demand greater flexibility from the national grid, placing hydroelectric power in an increasingly important position.
As variable renewable generation expands, NISO said hydro stations capable of responding rapidly to changes in supply and demand could become even more valuable to the electricity system.
The System Operator therefore called for the preservation, rehabilitation, modernisation and optimisation of existing hydropower assets, alongside the development of viable new hydro resources.
It also emphasised the need to improve the reliability of existing plants, noting that installed capacity alone does not determine how much electricity a station can deliver.
The organisation disclosed that it is advancing work on a modern control centre and operational intelligence systems to improve visibility across the electricity fleet.
The programme is expected to strengthen the use of Energy Management Systems, SCADA, Internet of Things technology, state estimation and contingency analysis.
For hydropower operations, NISO said better integration of hydrological data, reservoir levels, inflow forecasts, unit availability, generation capability, demand forecasts, transmission constraints and real-time grid conditions will support more accurate decision-making.
The objective, it said, is to move from generation planning based largely on historical trends to a more predictive, scenario-based and risk-informed approach.
NISO urged participants to ensure that the outcomes of the hydro planning meeting do not remain on paper.
The organisation said the meeting should produce a clear and implementable framework covering projected hydro generation, water availability, maintenance and outage schedules, generator availability, governor-response compliance, coordination with thermal and renewable generation, reserve requirements and transmission constraints.
It also called for specific responsibilities and deadlines to be assigned to stakeholders and monitored through a tracked action register.
NISO reaffirmed its commitment to working with all stakeholders to ensure Nigeria’s hydropower resources are planned and operated in a manner that maximises their contribution to a more reliable, resilient, flexible and efficient electricity system.