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’Femi Asu
Published 4 April 2021
Power generation companies were not paid 59.17 per cent of the invoice issued last year for the electricity produced and fed into the national grid.
The government-owned Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading Plc buys electricity in bulk from generation companies through Power Purchase Agreements and sells through vesting contracts to the Discos, which then supply it to the consumers.
NBET received a total invoice of 1N739.68bn from the Gencos last year but only paid N320.02bn to them.
The nation generates most of its electricity from gas-fired power plants, while output from hydropower plants makes up about 30 per cent of the total generation.
Electricity: 11 DISCOs indebtedness to NBET hits N510 53bn vanguardngr.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from vanguardngr.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Liquidity: Electricity sector generates N272.47bn in six months
On DISCOs collection efficiency Q3’20
By Obas Esiedesa
Electricity market revenue grew by 10.55 per cent to N272.47 billion in the second half (July-December) 2020, compared to N246.46 billion generated in the corresponding period of 2019, according to the latest industry data obtained by Energy Vanguard.
The growth followed an intervention from the Presidency through the Central Bank of Nigeria, which imposed restriction on revenue collection bank accounts of Electricity Distribution Companies, DisCos.
The intervention meant that the bank accounts were locked, with cash allowed to come in but withdrawals by DisCos blocked.
Over the years, the DisCos have been accused by other industry operators of spending the industry’s revenue on their own operations to the detriment of others.
Emmanuel Addeh in Abuja
The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) has expressed concern about the continuing inability of its international as well as special customers to settle their invoices for services rendered by the Market Operator (MO).
NERC, in its quarterly report for the second quarter of 2020, obtained by THISDAY at the weekend, said the failure by Niger, Togo and Benin Republic and Ajaokuta Steel Company, which is a special customer, to meet their obligations were compounding the liquidity challenges in the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry (NESI).
It, however, added that Compagnie Energie Electrique du Togo of Togo had offset N1.5 billion of the total debt owed.
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The Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading Plc (NBET) payment shortfall to the electricity Generation Companies (GenCos) between January 2019 and September 2020 is N865billion, Nigeria Electricity Supply Industry (NESI) data has revealed.
Also, the data states that the eleven electricity Distribution Companies (DisCos) failed to remit a total of N870 billion within the period.
A key operational and financial data obtained from the official website of the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) disclosed that in 2019, the total sum of the invoice from 25 GenCos to NBET was an approximated N675billon from which only N174.3billion was paid, leaving a shortfall of N496.65billion.