Sahara Power bets $12m on Lagos grid with new 12mw plant

…Plant to come online first quarter 2027

Sahara Power Enterprise Group, Africa’s largest privately held power company, broke ground on a 12-megawatt independent power plant in Lagos, adding to a wave of private investment aimed at easing Nigeria’s chronic electricity shortages.

The $12 million facility, to be built at the Ogba Undertaking operated by Ikeja Electric Plc, will house six 2-megawatt gas-fired generating units. Sahara expects the plant to come online in the first quarter of 2027, supplying industrial clusters, businesses, homes and public institutions across Ogba, Acme Road, Wemco Road and nearby districts.

The project adds to a growing pipeline of embedded and independent power plants that private operators are building alongside Nigeria’s distribution companies as the country works to narrow a persistent gap between electricity demand and supply, a shortfall that has long weighed on manufacturing output and business costs in Africa’s largest economy.

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“This initiative is about much more than breaking ground for a new power plant,” Kola Adesina, group managing director of Sahara Power Enterprise Group, said at the groundbreaking ceremony. “It represents a bold commitment to Nigeria’s energy future and our determination to deliver dependable, efficient, and sustainable electricity to businesses and communities.”

Adesina said the plant will use gas-fired generating technology built to environmental, operational and safety standards, and thanked federal and Lagos state authorities, the Lagos State Electricity Regulatory Commission, Ikeja Electric, Cummins and other partners for backing the project.

Ikeja Electric, the utility that distributes power across much of Lagos, framed the investment as central to its push to improve service reliability for customers in its network.

“At Ikeja Electric, our priority is to partner with forward-looking investors and developers such as SPEG to deliver innovative solutions that improve customer experience and reliable electricity supply across our network,” said Ogochukwu Onyelucheya, the utility’s acting chief executive officer. She called the plant a strategic investment that would give customers a more dependable, cost-effective power source while supporting local business growth.

Cummins West Africa Limited will build the plant. “We are delighted to partner with Sahara Power to accelerate socio-economic development through reliable and sustainable energy solutions,” said Mark Oni-Okeke, the firm’s managing director.

Local officials welcomed the investment. Abdul-Ganiyu Obasa, executive chairman of Agege Local Government, said more reliable power would help attract investment and create jobs in the area. HRM Oba Egbeyemi Latif Oladimeji, the traditional ruler of Ogbaland, pledged the community’s support and said residents were looking forward to the plant’s commissioning.

The Ogba plant is part of Sahara Power’s broader push across Nigeria’s power sector, where the company has been expanding its footprint in generation and distribution as it seeks to help close the country’s electricity supply gap.

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