Uche Cecil Izuora
The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) has blamed the drop in electricity generation in Q4, 2024, to plunge in energy offtake by the grid-connected customers, including Distribution Companies (DisCos) compared to 2024/Q3.
The average hourly generation on the grid in 2024/Q4 was 4,207.41MWh/h, which translates to a total generation of 9,289.95GWh, while average hourly generation of grid-connected power plants decreased by 72.83MWh/h (-1.70 per cent) from 4,280.24MWh/h in 2024/Q3.
“The total electricity generated in the quarter also decreased by 160.81GWh (-1.70 per cent) from 9,450.76GWh in 2024/Q3 to 9,289.95GWh. The decrease in generation during the quarter was primarily due to the decrease in energy offtake by the grid-connected customers (including Discos) compared to 2024/Q3,” it added.
The information was obtained from the Q4, 2024 report by the market operator.
In 2024/Q4, the NERC report stated that the average lower daily (49.39Hz) and average upper daily (50.91Hz) system frequencies were outside the normal operating limits (49.75Hz – 50.25Hz), but remained within the lower and higher bound stress limits (48.75Hz 51.25Hz).
The NERC said has encouraged the System Operator (SO) to improve its system coordination activities to avoid the system risk posed by the continuous operation of the grid outside the normal operating limits.
The regulator further highlighted three incidents of total collapse and two incidents of partial collapse which occurred on the national grid in 2024/Q4.
“The partial collapses were recorded on October 14 and November 5. 2024, while the total collapses were recorded on 19 October, 07 November and 11 December 2024, respectively,” it added.
The NERC stated that it continues to ensure the safety, security, reliability, and quality of service in the production and delivery of electricity to consumers, by monitoring the technical, operational, and commercial performance of the industry players.
Within the period in review, the average energy offtake by DisCos at their trading points was 3,360.77MWh/h out of the available 3,552.26MWh/h, translating to an overall offtake performance of 94.61 per cent.
The energy offtake during the quarter, it said, was 3,360.77MWh/h, representing a decrease of 84.36MWh/h (-2.45 per cent) compared to the 3,445.13MWh/h recorded in 2024/Q3.
The total energy received by all DisCos in 2024/Q4 was 7,420.58GWh, while the energy billed to end-use customers was 6,207.84GWh, translating into an overall billing efficiency of 83.66 per cent , NERC stated.
NERC, said the total revenue collected by all Discos in 2024/Q4 was N509.84 billion out of N658.40 billion billed to customers, translating to a collection efficiency of 77.44 per cent, representing an increase of +2.89 per cent compared to 2024/Q3 (74.55 per cent).
The sector recorded an Aggregate Technical, Commercial and Collection (ATC&C) loss, a summation of billing losses incurred by a Disco due to its inability to bill 100 per cent of energy delivered to customers, according to the new document.
It stated that only Yola and Eko Discos achieved their target ATC&C, as provided for during the quarter, with the other Discos failing to achieve their target ATC&C and Kaduna Disco recording the worst performance relative to the target ATC&C.
“In 2024/Q4, the cumulative upstream invoice payable by Discos was N408.86 billion, consisting of N360.97 billion for adjusted generation costs and N47.89 billion for transmission and administrative services by the MO.
“Out of this amount, the Discos collectively remitted a total sum of N378.93 billion (N336.63 billion for NBET and N42.30 billion for MO) with an outstanding balance of N29.92 billion. This translates to a remittance performance of 92.68 per cent in 2024/Q4 compared to the 83.77 per cent recorded in 2024/Q3,” it stated.