Nigeria’s electricity distribution companies (Discos) reported a revenue of N291.62 billion in the first quarter of 2024, despite widespread blackouts across the country.
The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) highlighted in its latest report that this revenue was part of the N368.65 billion billed to customers during this period.
“Discos collected a total of ₦291.62bn in Q1 2024 from the ₦368.65bn billed to customers, resulting in a collection efficiency of 79.11%. This marks a 5.32 percentage point increase from Q4 2023, which had a collection efficiency of 73.79%,” NERC stated.
The report also noted that the average available generation capacity from all 27 power plants in Nigeria during Q1 2024 was 4,249.10MW. This represents a loss of 673.16MW, or a 13.68% decrease, compared to the 4,922.26MW capacity recorded in Q4 2023. Seventeen of the 27 grid-connected plants experienced a reduction in available generation capacity during this period.
This period coincided with a significant power crisis in Nigeria, exacerbated by gas companies halting supplies to power-generating firms due to outstanding debts.
During the first quarter, the Discos’ average energy offtake at trading points was 3,283.87 megawatt-hours, down by 429.29MWh/h from the 3,713.16MWh/h recorded in Q4 2023.
Overall, Discos received 7,171.93 gigawatt-hours of energy in Q1 2024, while 5,769.52GWh was billed to end-use customers, reflecting an overall billing efficiency of 80.45%. This is a 2% increase from the 78.45% billing efficiency recorded in the previous quarter.
