Power generation companies were paid a total of N311.1bn after providing an invoice of N614.6bn for electricity supplied between January and September 2021, the Federal Government said.
The government, however, stated that it had to supplement the payment to the Gencos with a total of N129.83bn Payment Assurance and that this was for between January and June last year.
The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), a Federal Government agency, stated that the 25 power generation companies in the country recorded a shortfall of N303.5bn in terms of the payment for power, this was captured in their invoices.
The NERC showed that the Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading(NBET) Plc paid N311.1bn to the Gencos, But the actual amount of invoice by the power producers to NBET during the nine months was N614.6bn.
The NBET is an agency of the Federal Government that buys electricity in bulk from generation companies through Power Purchase Agreements and sells it through vesting contracts to distribution companies, which then supply to end-users.
It was observed that NBET paid N37.04bn, N26.19bn, and N35.78bn to the Gencos in January, February, and March 2021, respectively.
In April, May, and June, the power generators got N39.46bn, N40.55bn, and N31.88bn respectively from the bulk electricity trader.
Also, the 22 gas-fired and three hydropower generation companies altogether got N36.03bn, N31.14bn, and N32.99bn from NBET in July, August, and September respectively.
It was further gathered that to augment the shortfall in payment to the power producers, the Federal Government doled out N129.83bn as Payment Assurance Guarantee to the Gencos between January and June last year.
The Payment Assurance Guarantee is a credit facility set aside by the Federal Government and managed by the Central Bank of Nigeria to make up for the shortfall in NBET remittances from power distribution companies’ payments to the Gencos.
