Nigeria’s electricity distribution companies (Discos) generated ₦291.62 billion in revenue during the first quarter of 2024, despite ongoing blackouts affecting parts of the country.
This revenue was part of the ₦368.65 billion billed to customers in the same period, according to a report by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC).
“The total revenue collected by all Discos in 2024/Q1 was ₦291.62bn out of ₦368.65bn billed to customers. This translates to a collection efficiency of 79.11 percent, which represents an increase of +5.32 percentage points when compared to 2023/Q4 (73.79 per cent),” the NERC report stated.
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The report also highlighted that Nigeria lost 673 megawatts of power generation capacity in the first quarter due to gas shortages. The average available generation capacity across all 27 power plants in the country during the quarter was 4,249.10 MW, a 13.68 percent decrease from the 4,922.26 MW recorded in the fourth quarter of 2023. Seventeen out of the 27 grid-connected plants reported decreased generation capacities in Q1 2024 compared to Q4 2023.
This period coincided with a prolonged power crisis in Nigeria, as gas companies withheld supplies to power-generating companies due to unpaid debts. During the review period, the average energy offtake by the Discos at their trading points was 3,283.87 megawatt-hours, a decrease of 429.29 MWh/h from the 3,713.16 MWh/h recorded in Q4 2023.
The total energy received by all Discos in Q1 2024 was 7,171.93 gigawatt-hours, while the energy billed to end-use customers was 5,769.52 GWh, resulting in an overall billing efficiency of 80.45 percent. This represents a two percent increase from the 78.45 percent recorded in the previous quarter.
