During the first quarter of this year, total electricity generation in Nigeria decreased by 901.94 GWh compared to Q4, 2023, reflecting a 9.1% decline from 9,789.87GWh in 2023/Q4 to 8,887.93GWh during the period being analysed.
According to the Nigeria Electricity Regulatory Commission’s (NERC) first-quarter report for 2024, the average hourly power generation across available generation units also decreased by 8.22% in the quarter.
The report highlighted that the average available generation capacity across all power plants in the country fell to 4,249.10MW in Q1 of 2024, showing a decrease of 13.68% (or 673.16MW) compared to the 4,922.26MW recorded in the fourth quarter of 2023. It explained that the reduction was due to decreased generation capacities of 17 out of the 27 grid-connected power plants reported in the first quarter of 2024 compared to the previous quarter.
The report states, “In 2024/Q1, the average hourly generation of available units decreased by -8.22% (-364.25MWh/h) from 4,433.82MWh/h in 2023/Q4 to 4,069.57MWh/h. The total electricity generated in the quarter also decreased by -9.21% 1 (- 901.94GWh) from 9,789.87GWh in 2023/Q4 to 8,887.93GWh (Figure B). The decrease in gross energy generation during the quarter was primarily due to the decrease in the available generation capacities of the grid-connected power plants compared to 2023/Q4.”
In Q1 2024, the average energy taken by Distribution Companies (DisCos) at their trading points decreased to 3,283.87MWh/h, showing a drop of 429.29MWh/h or 11.56% from the 3,713.16MWh/h recorded in Q4 2023.
Although the average energy taken by Discos decreased in the first quarter, the revenue collected by Discos from final consumers rose by 5.32% from 73.79% in Q4 2023 to 79.11% in the quarter under review. Electricity distribution companies collected N291.62 billion out of N368.65 billion billed in the quarter.
Between January and March 2024, 123,604 meters were installed, indicating a 7.31% increase with 8,423 more installations compared to the 115,181 meters installed in Q4 2023. This increase in installations contributed to a 0.40 percentage point rise in the net end-user metering rate within the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry (NESI), which increased from 44.39% in Q4 2023 to 44.79% in Q1 2024.
In Q1 2024, Distribution Companies (DisCos) received 291,380 complaints from consumers, showing a decrease of 6.22% or 19,337 fewer complaints compared to the 310,717 complaints recorded in Q4 2023. The report noted that the most common issues reported by customers were related to metering, billing, and service interruptions, collectively accounting for more than 75% of the total complaints during the quarter.