The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) has ordered the Electricity Market Operator (MO) in Nigeria’s power sector to activate the relevant market rules to ensure the payment of $14.2 million (about N21.3 billion) owed Nigeria by international customers in Q1, 2024.
In its just-released Q1 2024 report, the power sector regulator stressed that none of the countries being supplied electricity by Nigeria remitted monies to the country during the period under review.
The MO administers the market rules of the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry (NESI) and is therefore responsible for the administration of the electricity market and promoting efficiency in the market.
The countries involved include Niger Republic, through its power generation and transmission utility, NIGELEC; Benin Republic, through Société Béninoise d’Energie Electrique (SBEE) and Togo, through its power utility firm, the Togo Electric Energy Company (CEET). “None of the four international bilateral customers being supplied by Generation Companies (Gencos) in the NESI made payment against the cumulative invoice of $14.19 million issued by the MO for services rendered in 2024/Q1. As indicated in previous reports, the commission expects the MO to invoke the provision of the market rules to curtail the payment indiscipline being exhibited by local and international bilateral customers,” the new NERC report stated.
