By SUNDAY ABBA, Abuja
Gross electricity generation in the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry (NESI) plunged by 9.21 per cent (=901.94 GWh), from 9,789.87GWh in the third quarter of 2023 (2023/Q4) to 8,887.93GWh in 2024/Q1, according to the latest sector performance report released by the Nigerian Electricity Distribution Company (NERC) for 2024/Q1.
The Commission explained that the decrease in total energy generation during the quarter was primarily due to the decrease in the available generation capacities of the grid-connected power plants compared to 2023/Q4.
“There were twenty-seven (27) grid connected power plants in 2024/Q1 consisting of nineteen (19) gas, a four (4) hydro, two (2) steam, and two (2) gas/steam-powered plants.
The average available generation capacity across all the plants during the quarter was 4,249.1OMW representing a -13.68% decrease (=673.16MW) compared to the 4,922.26MW recorded in 2023/Q4. Seventeen (17) out of the twenty-seven (27) grid-connected plants recorded decreased available generation capacities in 2024/Q1 compared to 2023/Q4,” the report noted.
This is as, on the health and safety side, 23 persons, including workers, lost their lives, as 31 others sustained various degrees of injury in the 55 electricity accidents recorded within the period under review.
“The total number of accidents in 2024/Q1 was 55 which resulted in 31 injuries and 23 fatalities,” the report revealed.
The accidents were identified to be mainly: wire snaps, resulting in 6 deaths and 6 injuries; illegal/unauthorised access, 5 deaths and 2 injuries; acts of vandalism, 2 deaths and 5 injuries; unsafe acts/conditions, 10 deaths and 12 injuries; falls from height, 2 injuries.
The report said that distribution companies (DisCos) accounted for 96.30 percent of casualties recorded with in the period and that out of the 54 casualties reported in the quarter, the licensees with the highest number of casualties were Eko Disco(13); Benin Disco (8); Jos Disco(6); and Aba Power (6).
In its remark, NERC said, “Relative to 2023/Q4, the safety performance within the NESI improved with the number of fatalities decreasing significantly by 36.11% (36 to 23) while the number of accidents and injuries increased marginally (+1.85 % and +3.33% respectively).”
The report on grid performance shows there is still need for improvement, as it said the average lower daily (49.00Hz) and average upper daily (50.68Hz) 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).
Noting that the average lower daily (297.60kV) and average upper daily (353. 18kV} system voltages were also outside the prescribed regulatory limits (313.50kV 346.50kV, the Commission acknowledged the system risk posed by the continuous operations of the grid outside the normal operating limits and vowed to continue to push the System Operator (SO) to improve its system coordination activities accordingly.
On a fairly good note, new meter installations increased the net end user metering rate in the NESI by 0.40pp between 2023/Q4 (44.39%) and 2024/Q1 (44.79%).
“A total of 123,604 meters were installed in 2024/Q1, representing an increase of 8,423 installations (+7.31%) compared to the 115,181 meters installed in 2023/Q4.
“During the quarter, 114, 477 meters (92.62% of the total installations) were installed under the MAP framework while 14 meters were installed under the NMMP framework. The Vendor Financed framework accounted for 7,540 meter installations while 1,573 meter installations were recorded under the DisCo Financed framework,” the report said.
The Commission urged DisCos to utilise a combination of the five (5) meter financing frameworks that have been provided in the 2021 Meter Asset Provider and National Mass Metering Regulations (NERC – R – 113 – 2021) to close their respective metering gaps.
Market remittance also slightly looked up with a performance of 96.93% in 2024/Q1 compared to the 69.88% recorded in 2023/Q4.
“The cumulative upstream invoice payable by DisCos was 8114.12 billion, consisting of 865.96 billion for DRO-adjusted generation costs from NBET and 848.16 billion for transmission and administrative services by the Market Operator (MO).
“Out of this amount, the DisCos collectively remitted a total sum of 8110.62 billion ($65.52 billion for NBET and $45.10 billion for MO) with an outstanding balance of 43.50 billion. This translates to a remittance
performance of 96.93% in 2024/Q1 compared to the 69.88% recorded in 2023/Q4.
However, Remittance by Special and Bilateral Customers was nothing to write home about as none of the four (4) international bilateral customers serviced by the MO made any payment against the $14.19 million invoice issued to them by the MO for services rendered in 2024/Q1.
“Similarly, none of the bilateral customers within the country made any payment against the cumulative invoice of $1,860.11 million issued to them by the MO for services rendered in 2024/Q1,” the report said.