NISO, Canadian High Commission explore partnership to boost Nigeria’s power sector

By Onu Okorie

Nigerian Independent System Operator NISO and the Canadian High Commission have opened talks on a wide-ranging partnership to strengthen Nigeria’s electricity industry, with capacity building, technology transfer, renewable energy integration, digital transformation and infrastructure investment all on the table.

The discussions took place during a courtesy visit by Canadian High Commissioner to Nigeria, David Sproule, and a delegation from the High Commission to NISO’s headquarters in Abuja. The team was received by NISO’s Managing Director/CEO, Engr. Abdu Bello Mohammed, along with members of the organisation’s management.

Welcoming the delegation, Mohammed called the visit an important milestone in Nigeria-Canada relations and thanked the High Commission for choosing NISO as one of its engagement partners. He said the visit reflected both nations’ shared interest in technical cooperation, trade, innovation and sustainable development in the energy sector.

Mohammed used the meeting to outline NISO’s mandate since its creation under the Electricity Act 2023. The agency oversees system operations, market operations and system planning, and enforces the Nigerian Electricity Market Rules, Grid Code, Metering Code and other directives from the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission NERC.

He pointed to several digital transformation projects underway at NISO, including a Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) system, an Energy Management System (EMS), new electricity market trading platforms, and expanded telemetry and Advanced Metering Infrastructure AMI aimed at making electricity market operations more efficient.

Mohammed also described NISO’s role in planning national grid expansion, identifying priority investments, integrating renewable energy sources into the grid, and encouraging private-sector involvement through Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) to speed up transmission development.

He named several areas ripe for collaboration with Canada: capacity development, technical exchange programmes, renewable energy integration, battery storage systems, digital grid technologies, research and innovation, and investment. Mohammed said Nigeria, as an emerging electricity market, hopes to draw on Canada’s experience in modern market operations, digital technology and renewable integration, and called the visit the start of a partnership that could improve the reliability of the national grid.

In his response, High Commissioner Sproule congratulated NISO on its establishment, describing it as one of the most consequential reforms to come out of the Electricity Act 2023. He praised the organisation’s strategic direction and said Canada was ready to support Nigeria’s energy transition through its expertise in system management, renewable integration, energy storage, cybersecurity and market operations.

Sproule noted that Canadian firms are known internationally for running complex electricity systems with substantial renewable energy penetration and remote grid management — capabilities he said fit well with NISO’s push toward a modern, digitally enabled market. He said Canada was open to linking NISO with Canadian technology providers and fellow Independent System Operators to deepen the collaboration.

Both sides said they were optimistic the meeting would lead to lasting cooperation on technical capacity building, knowledge sharing, innovation and investment — with the ultimate goal of a more reliable and resilient power supply for Nigeria.