Power generation companies did not receive 59.17% of the bill issued last year for electricity produced and fed into the national grid.
Nigerian state-owned company Bulk Electricity Trading Plc buys wholesale electricity from generation companies through power purchase agreements and sells it through acquisition contracts to Discos, who then supply it to consumers. consumers.
NBET received a total bill of N739.68 billion from Gencos last year, but only paid them N 320.02 billion.
The country produces most of its electricity from gas-fired power plants, while production from hydropower plants accounts for around 30% of total production.
The punch reported Thursday that the country’s electricity distribution companies had failed to pay a total of 510.53 billion naira for the electricity sold to them in 2020 by NBET.
The 11 Discos received a total bill of N730.71 billion for energy received in 2020, but only paid NBET 220.18 billion to NBET, according to NERC data.
The regulator said electricity consumers paid a total of N542.73 billion to Discos last year, out of a total bill of N816.15 billion.
According to the Association of National Electricity Distributors, nightclubs receive only about 24 percent of tariff revenue, while the balance goes upstream to transmission, generation and other industry players.
The Nigerian Gas Association and other stakeholders said in January that liquidity issues hampering the performance of the power sector should be quickly resolved to address legacy debts and facilitate full recovery of gas revenues from the gas industry. electricity supply sector in Nigeria.
NERC, in its latest quarterly report, noted that the financial viability of Nigeria’s electricity supply sector has remained a major challenge threatening sustainability.
“The liquidity challenge is in part due to the non-application of cost-reflective tariffs, high technical and commercial losses exacerbated by energy theft and consumer apathy towards payments under the widespread practice of estimated billing, â€he said.
He said the lockdown period introduced by the federal government as a measure to reduce the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 has further affected Discos billing of post-paid customers.
“The severity of the liquidity challenge in NESI was reflected in the service charge and energy bill settlement rates issued by the market operator and NBET respectively to each of the nightclubs as well as in the non and low payments. by special and international customers respectively. for the services rendered by the MO â€, declared the regulator.
According to the report, the Discos were expected to make a 44.87% market payout in the second quarter of 2020, but only a 28.05% settlement rate was reached within the expected timeframe for market settlement in market rules.
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