Nigeria Power Push: GCL, Swiber Africa Plan 4 GW Wind-Solar, Lithium Processing Plant

Swiber Africa Group (Nigeria) has entered into a New Energy Industry Framework Cooperation Agreement with GCL Group to develop Nigeria’s power infrastructure and lithium battery value chain. In a press release, GCL said it had signed the agreement to support the development of Nigeria’s power infrastructure and lithium battery value chain.

The cooperation will also provide Nigeria with intelligent energy management capabilities ranging from millisecond-level rapid response to medium- and long-term precise forecasting. The initiative will be directly aligned with Nigeria's Presidential Power Initiative (PPI), with plans to develop projects including 3 GW of gas-fired power plants and 4 GW of integrated wind and solar energy projects.

Under the collaboration, the two sides also plan to develop hydropower and coal-fired power stations. Grid upgrade projects will be implemented in parallel, aiming to build an efficient and coordinated “Generation–Transmission–Distribution–Consumption” energy network and drive Nigeria's power system transition from manual control to intelligent control.

The agreement was officially signed between Orji Uzor Kalu, Chairman of Swiber Africa (Nigeria) Group, and Zhu Gongshan, Chairman of GCL (China) Group. Under the agreement, the two parties will engage in in-depth cooperation across several areas, including energy system development, strategic lithium resource development, and industrial chain collaboration.

The signing marks an important outcome of strengthened practical cooperation between China and Nigeria and represents a key step in GCL's active response to the Belt and Road Initiative and its broader internationalisation strategy.

Addressing the Power Shortage Issue in Nigeria

The collaboration reflects the growing trend of increased cooperation between Nigeria and China in the energy sector. It also supports Nigeria’s power-constrained economy, which has long faced severe electricity shortages and a weak power grid. These challenges have constrained industrial development and improvements in living standards.

Against the backdrop of the global energy transition and deepening China-Africa cooperation, GCL Group is leveraging more than 20 years of experience in integrated oil, gas, and green energy development across African countries such as Ethiopia and Djibouti. Targeting Nigeria's pressing energy and resource challenges, GCL is focusing on the development of a new-generation power system and the lithium battery industry chain, while expanding its strategic footprint along the Belt and Road corridors.

In terms of power system construction, GCL will integrate internationally clean power generation technologies with scenario-based system solutions. A key offering will be a full-time-scale virtual power plant system—successfully deployed in the Suzhou Industrial Park jointly developed by China and Singapore—which achieves load regulation accuracy of up to 94%.

At the same time, lithium resource development and the establishment of a complete industry chain constitute another core pillar of the cooperation. Amid the global lithium battery boom, lithium has emerged as a strategically critical resource, with the phrase “Lithium Shapes the Energy Future” increasingly resonating across the industry. Nigeria possesses abundant lithium resources, but development has long been limited to low value-added stages such as raw ore extraction and preliminary processing. Issues including grade volatility and idle capacity have prevented the full realisation of the resource’s value.

In line with Nigeria's policy direction to strengthen local lithium processing starting in 2026, GCL will leverage its industrial chain advantages to introduce advanced mining and smelting technologies. The two sides will focus on jointly developing a lithium carbonate smelting facility in Abia State, creating a closed-loop lithium industry chain encompassing “Resource Security + Production and Operations + Global Exports.”

This model mirrors GCL's successful development of a full natural gas value chain in Ethiopia and will also support the company's domestic industrial layout. As a major participant in the global lithium battery materials sector, GCL has already established large-scale lithium iron phosphate (LFP) production capacity in locations such as Renshou and Leshan in Sichuan Province. Access to high-quality overseas lithium resources will provide a stable supply of premium raw materials for GCL's materials business, enabling precise global matching of resources and production capacity.