NERC generates 8.951m MWh in Q1 2019

The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) has generated 8.951 million Megawatts-hour (MWh) into the electricity market in the first quarter of 2019.

NERC made this known in its first quarter report obtained on Monday by News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja from its website.

The commission said during the first quarter of 2019, the total electric energy generated was 8.951, MWh, 0.8 per cent higher than the level of generation during the fourth quarter of 2018.

“During the quarter, the industry recorded the peak generation of 5,375MW. However, the available plant generation units declined to 61 from the daily average of 72 recorded in the last quarter of 2018.

“ In spite of the decline in the available generation units in the first quarter, the total energy generation rose by 0.8 per cent with 8.9 per cent points increase in generation capacity utilisation.

“Arising from the reduction in the constraints of insufficient gas supply, transmission and distribution networks, and water management at the hydro-power stations.

“ In spite of the marginal improvement in sector performance during the quarter under review, the aforementioned industry constraints continue to pose major technical and operational challenges to the industry,’’ the commission said.

The commission said that the complete resolution of the highlighted technical and operational constraints in the Nigerian Electricity Industry remains as one of its top priorities.

It said that the commission had continued to work on addressing the Electricity Distribution Company (DisCo) and the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) interface bottlenecks.

This was with the aim of freeing up the generation capacity constraint by addressing the constraints inhibiting the flow of energy.

The reporter said that the commission was further committed to utilising a more robust process for the thorough technical assessment of DisCos’ utilisation of capital expenditure allowances for relevance and cost efficiency.

“To ensure that utilities invest on projects critical to addressing the technical and operational challenges bedevilling operational efficiency.

“Pursuant to this effort, the commission has formally approved the Performance Improvement Plan Guidelines to be issued to DisCos for the preparation of their investment plan.

“This process is consistent with the regulatory imperative of ensuring that consumers do not pay for inefficiencies of the utilities’ the commission said.