Nigeria: Nigeria's Sahara Power Starts $12m Lagos Gas Plant

What the report says

Sahara Power Enterprise Group has begun work on a $12 million gas-fired power plant in Lagos, according to Daba Finance, as the company expands private electricity supply in Nigeria’s commercial hub. The new facility is a 12 MW independent power plant being developed inside Ikeja Electric’s Ogba network, with completion planned for the first quarter of 2027.

The project is designed to serve industrial clusters, businesses, homes and public institutions in Ogba and nearby areas including Acme Road and Wemco Road. Daba Finance reported that the plant will use six generating units of 2 MW each, and that Cummins West Africa won the construction contract. Sahara Power says the site is intended to bring generation closer to customers and reduce the interruptions that often affect users in the area.

The report places the investment in the wider context of Nigeria’s electricity shortfall and ongoing market reforms. Businesses in many parts of the country still depend on diesel and petrol generators when grid supply is unreliable. At the same time, the Electricity Act 2023 has allowed states to take greater control of intrastate power markets, and Lagos assumed responsibility for its market in 2025.

While the plant is modest compared with national power needs, it reflects a broader shift toward smaller, locally supplied systems aimed at customers willing to pay for more dependable electricity. If completed as planned, the Ogba project could offer a model for similar private investments near industrial and commercial demand centers.