The electricity Distribution Companies (DisCos) operating in Nigeria, collectively remitted a total sum of N378.93 billion from the payable invoice of N408.86 billion in the fourth quarter of 2024, leaving an outstanding balance of N29.92 billion.
This was contained in the Fourth Quarter Report of the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) released on Monday.
According to the report, ‘’in 2024/Q4, the cumulative upstream invoice payable by DisCos was ₦408.86 billion, consisting of ₦360.97 billion for DRO-adjusted generation costs from NBET2 and ₦47.89 billion for transmission and administrative services by the Market Operator (MO).
“Out of this amount, the DisCos collectively remitted a total sum of ₦378.93 billion (₦336.63 billion for NBET and ₦42.30 billion for MO) with an outstanding balance of ₦29.92 billion. This translates to a remittance performance of 92.68% in 2024/Q4 compared to the 83.77% recorded in 2024/Q3,” the report said.
It also disclosed that in the period, the six (6) international bilateral customers purchasing power from the grid connected GenCos made a cumulative payment of $5.21 million against the $14.05 million invoice issued to them by the MO for services rendered in 2024/Q4.
Similarly, it said, the domestic bilateral customers made a cumulative payment of ₦1,252.58 million against the ₦1,977.02 million invoice issued to them by the MO for services rendered in 2024/Q4 3 .
The report said, in 2024/Q4, the average energy offtake by DisCos at their trading points was 3,360.77MWh/h out of the available PCC of 3,552.26MWh/h, translating to an overall offtake performance of 94.61%. The energy offtake during the quarter (3,360.77MWh/h) represents a decrease of 84.36MWh/h (-2.45%) compared to the 3,445.13MWh/h recorded in 2024/Q3.
It said 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%.
‘’This represents a +1.51pp increase in billing efficiency relative to the 82.15% recorded in 2024/Q3. c. Collection Efficiency: The total revenue collected by all DisCos in 2024/Q4 was ₦509.84 billion out of ₦658.40 billion billed to customers. This translates to a collection efficiency of 77.44%, representing an increase of +2.89pp compared to 2024/Q3 (74.55%),’’ the report added.
According to the report, the Aggregate Technical, Commercial and Collection (ATC&C) Loss across all the DisCo in 2024/Q4 was 35.22%, comprising technical and commercial loss (16.34%) and collection loss (22.56%).
‘The ATC&C loss of 35.22% was +10.44pp higher than the MYTO target (24.78%) and translates to a cumulative revenue loss of ₦139.08 billion across all DisCos. The ATC&C loss decreased by -3.88pp (improved performance) compared to 2024/Q3 (39.10%).
‘’Yola and Eko DisCos achieved their target ATC&C, as provided in the MYTO during the quarter. The other DisCos failed to achieve their target ATC&C, with Kaduna DisCo recording the worst underperformance relative to the target ATC&C (Actual – 60.65% vs. target – 25.00%),’’ the report disclosed.
On available power generation in the country, the report said in 2024/Q4, there were twenty eight (28) grid-connected power plants consisting of nineteen (19) gas, five (5) hydro, two (2) steam, and two (2) gas/steam-powered plants.
It said, for this quarter, the average available generation capacity of the grid connected power plants was 5,296.89MW, adding that the average available generation capacity across the grid-connected plants increased by 195.98MW (+3.84%) from the 5,100.90MW recorded in 2024/Q3 to 5,296.89MW in 2024/Q4 .
‘’Fifteen (15) power plants recorded increased available generation capacities in 2024/Q4 compared to 2024/Q3,’’ it added.
The report said that ‘’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. The average hourly generation of grid connected power plants decreased by 72.83MWh/h (-1.70%) from 4,280.24MWh/h in 2024/Q3.
‘’The total electricity generated in the quarter also decreased by 160.81GWh (-1.70%) 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 revealed.
On grid performance, it said, in 2024/Q4, 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).
It added that the average lower daily (300.21kV) and average upper daily (349.45kV) system voltages were however outside the limits prescribed in the grid code (313.50kV – 346.50kV).
The report said the Commission continues to push the SO to improve its system coordination activities to avert the system risk posed by the continuous operation of the grid outside the normal operating limits.
It said Three (3) incidents of total collapse and two (2) incidents of partial collapse occurred on the national grid in 2024/Q4, adding that the partial collapses were recorded on 14 October and 05 November 2024, while the total collapses were recorded on 19 October, 07 November and 11 December 2024, respectively.
It said, as contained in section 20.1 of the Grid Code, the SO is expected to submit to the Commission a detailed report containing the root causes of the incidents leading to the system disruptions and mitigation plans to avoid a recurrence of similar incidents.
