DisCos remit N1.7bn in Q1 2024 – Report

The Nigerian electricity market witnessed a significant improvement in remittance performance by Distribution Companies (DisCos) in the first quarter of 2024, a report released by the the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), has said.

According to the report, DisCos achieved an impressive remittance rate of 96.93 percent, a substantial increase from the 69.88 percent recorded in the fourth quarter of 2023.

It said DisCos collectively remitted ₦1,710.62 billion, leaving an outstanding balance of ₦43.50 billion.

However, this positive development was marred by the poor remittance performance of special and bilateral customers.

The report stated that both international and domestic bilateral customers failed to make any payments against significant invoices issued by the Market Operator (MO) for services rendered in Q1 2024.

The report noted that the four international bilateral customers did not remit any payments against a $14.19 million invoice issued by the MO.

Similarly, domestic bilateral customers showed non remittance against a cumulative invoice of ₦1,860.11 million for the same period.

The report also stated that new meter installations in NESI rose by 0.40 percentage points from 44.39% in Q4 2023 to 44.79% in Q1 2024.

During the period under review, 123,604 meters were installed, marking a 7.31% increase from the 115,181 installations in the previous quarter, while the majority of the installations, 114,477 meters (92.62%), were completed under the Meter Asset Provider (MAP) framework.

Other frameworks contributed as follows: 7,540 under the Vendor Financed framework and 1,573 under the DisCo Financed framework, while only 14 meters were installed under the National Mass Metering Programme (NMMP).

NERC urged Distribution Companies (DisCos) to leverage the five meter financing frameworks outlined in the 2021 Meter Asset Provider and National Mass Metering Regulations (NERC – R – 113 – 2021) to address metering gaps.

Despite these positive developments, gross electricity generation in NESI decreased by 9.21%, from 9,789.87 GWh in Q4 2023 to 8,887.93 GWh in Q1 2024.

NERC attributed the decline to reduced generation capacities of grid-connected power plants.

The average available generation capacity across the 27 grid-connected plants dropped by 13.68%, from 4,922.26 MW in Q4 2023 to 4,249.10 MW in Q1 2024. Seventeen of the 27 plants reported decreased capacities.

On the safety front, the industry recorded 55 electricity accidents in Q1 2024, resulting in 31 injuries and 23 fatalities.

This represented a significant improvement from Q4 2023, with fatalities decreasing by 36.11% from 36 to 23.

However, the number of accidents and injuries saw a marginal increase of 1.85% and 3.33%, respectively. DisCos accounted for 96.30% of the casualties, with Eko Disco, Benin Disco, Jos Disco, and Aba Power reporting the highest numbers.

The report also highlighted ongoing issues with grid performance, noting that the average daily system frequencies and voltages remained outside the prescribed regulatory limits, posing system risks.

NERC vowed to continue pushing the System Operator to enhance its coordination activities to address these challenges.