The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) issued 194 licences, permits and certifications across Nigeria’s electricity market in 2025, representing a 15.5% increase from the 168 approvals recorded in 2024. The regulator disclosed this in its 2025 Annual Report, with the approvals covering electricity generation, distribution, trading, mini-grids and metering activities. The increase reflects continued regulatory activity across both conventional and decentralised electricity segments, particularly in mini-grid development and electricity metering.
What the report is saying
The regulator disclosed that mini-grid permits accounted for the largest number of approvals in 2025, with NERC issuing 64 permits. The report further shows that Meter Service Providers received 43 approvals, while Meter Asset Providers accounted for 30. Captive power projects received 31 licences. NERC also issued seven licences for electricity distribution networks (IEDN), six off-grid generation licences, five embedded generation licences and six trading licences. Two on-grid generation licences were issued during the year, according to NERC. The regulator’s 2025 approvals were therefore heavily concentrated in distributed generation and metering, with mini-grids, captive power and metering-related permits accounting for 168 of the 194 approvals. In 2024, NERC issued 168 licences, permits and registrations across the sector.
The approvals included 22 off-grid generation licences, 39 Meter Asset Provider (MAP) permits, 36 Meter Service Provider permits, 27 mini-grid permits and 24 captive power licences. NERC also issued nine trading licences, seven mini-grid registrations, three on-grid generation licences and one System Operator licence.
The composition of approvals changed significantly in 2025, with the regulator issuing substantially more mini-grid permits while approvals for Meter Asset Providers and Meter Service Providers also remained significant. Get up to speed
In April, NERC issued the Mini-Grid Regulations 2026 aimed at improving electricity access across Nigeria, particularly in underserved and unserved communities. Earlier, Nairametrics reported that the NERC had issued a new directive introducing stricter monitoring and transparency requirements for Nigeria’s power transmission system. In December, the Rural Electrification Agency (REA) said it deployed more than 200 mini-grids across underserved communities nationwide in 2025. President Bola Tinubu recently approved a N3.3 trillion payment plan to settle outstanding debts under the Presidential Power Sector Financial Reforms Programme. What you should know
Nairametrics previously reported that FG will spend N100 billion in 2026 to deploy hybrid mini-grids for government agencies within and outside Abuja. In March 2025, REA received approval to establish a renewable asset management company to sustain its electrification interventions and ensure long-term infrastructure viability.
In March, the African Development Bank (AfDB) approved a $5.65 million grant to fund Peace Renewable Energy Certificate (P-REC) mini-grid projects across 14 African countries, aiming to provide electricity to 856,000 people. In 2025, Nigeria and a United Nations agency set a $500 million target for a fund that would be accessed by local developers of renewable energy.
