According to the General Manager in charge of Transmission at TCN, Bede Opara, DISCOs have not been able to pay their debts due to energy theft and other issues. “The low revenue collection affects transmissions as well as gas plants. All these are parts of the issues affecting the sector at one point or the other.”
Opara explained that most of the equipment TCN planned to utilize for construction work have been stranded at the ports for between five and eight years. It would be recalled that the GENCOs have threatened to shut down their turbines as a result of huge market debts. Some have even gone to court to get relief.
DISCO official disconnecting lines on electric pole Opara said that the DISCOs have to improve on their monthly remittances otherwise their accounts would be escrowed and their security deposits would be called up in the event of default.
“The low revenue collection affects transmissions as well as gas plants. All these are parts of the issues affecting the sector at one point or the other.” Opara explained that most of the equipment TCN planned to utilize for construction work have been stranded at the ports for between five to eight years. It would be recalled that the GENCOs have threatened to shut down their turbines as a result of huge market debts. Some have even gone to court to get relief. DISCO official disconnecting lines on electric pole Opara said that the DISCOs have to improve on their monthly remittances otherwise their accounts would be escrowed and their security deposits would be called up in the event of default. Meanwhile, the Nigeria Electricity System Operator, NESO, a section of TCN responsible for operating the transmission system, has indicated that due to these shortfalls there is constant collapse of the system. According to their report in May 2016, the national grid collapsed five times. In June, it collapsed four times. July, September and October, each witnessed one collapse, while November and December witnessed three collapses each.
The transmission network was said to have recorded over 26 system collapses in 2016. These were largely blamed on weak transmission network, regarded as the weakest link in the electricity value chain. Before now generation and distribution companies have asked for more time and patience from Nigerians to improve electricity supply.
Their plea came as they identified weak transmission network as a major hindrance to the attainment of the 10,000 megawatts target set by President Muhammadu Buhari to be achieved in 2019. Last week, data obtained, showed that Kaduna, Eko, Jos, Yola, Port Harcourt, Abuja, Ibadan and Benin DISCOs rejected the 1,336.75MWH of power from TCN in the third quarter of this year, despite instability in the supply of electricity across the country.
Specifically, in the month of July, a total of 318.83MWH, which was three per cent of the total energy delivered to the DISCOs, was rejected by four of the firms. In July, the Kaduna DISCO’s rejection of 132.99MWH made it the highest in the month. The Eko DISCO rejected 67.46MWH; Jos, 63.05MWH; while the Yola DISCO rejected 55.33MWH. In the same month, the Port Harcourt DISCO took in the highest quantum of power at 441.43MWH; Kano accepted 397MWH; while the Enugu DISCO collected 302.49MWH. In August, there was an increase in load rejection by the distribution companies to the tune of 541.56MWH, which was four per cent of the total energy delivered to them as against the 318.83MWH delivered in the previous month. The Port Harcourt DISCO rejected the most quantum of power with a total of 239.88MWH, followed by the Eko DISCO with 134.8MWH. In the month under review, five DISCOs took excess load beyond their Multi-Year Tariff Order allocation to the tune of 187.21MWH. The Abuja DISCO took the most, with 132.81MWH; followed by the Kaduna Disco, with 23.21MWH; Ibadan, 16.24MWH; and Enugu, 12.42MWH. Further analysis showed that September saw the rejection of 476.36MW, representing 12 per cent of the total energy delivered to the Discos. It was, therefore, the highest load rejection in the quarter. The Abuja DISCO rejected 94.72MWH, followed closely by Port Harcourt, with 92.35MWH; Ibadan was next with 67.14MWH; and the Benin DISCO turned down 46.40MWH. Among all the DISCOs, only Kaduna accepted power beyond its MYTO allocation, taking in 65.96MWH in excess of its MYTO allocation.
In June, it collapsed four times. July, September and October, each witnessed one collapse, while November and December witnessed three collapses each. The transmission network was said to have recorded over 26 system collapses in 2016. These were largely blamed on weak transmission network, regarded as the weakest link in the electricity value chain.
Before now generation and distribution companies have asked for more time and patience from Nigerians to improve electricity supply. Their plea came as they identified weak transmission network as a major hindrance in the attainment of the 10,000 megawatts target set by President Muhammadu Buhari to be achieved in 2019. Last week, data obtained, showed that Kaduna, Eko, Jos, Yola, Port Harcourt, Abuja, Ibadan and Benin DISCOs rejected the 1,336.75MWH of power from TCN in the third quarter of this year, despite instability in the supply of electricity across the country. Specifically, in the month of July, a total of 318.83MWH, which was three per cent of the total energy delivered to the DISCOs, was rejected by four of the firms. In July, the Kaduna DISCO’s rejection of 132.99MWH made it the highest in the month. The Eko DISCO rejected 67.46MWH; Jos, 63.05MWH; while the Yola DISCO rejected 55.33MWH. In the same month, the Port Harcourt DISCO took in the highest quantum of power at 441.43MWH; Kano accepted 397MWH; while the Enugu DISCO collected 302.49MWH.
In August, there was an increase in load rejection by the distribution companies to the tune of 541.56MWH, which was four per cent of the total energy delivered to them as against the 318.83MWH delivered in the previous month. The Port Harcourt DISCO rejected the most quantum of power with a total of 239.88MWH, followed by the Eko DISCO with 134.8MWH. In the month under review, five DISCOs took excess load beyond their Multi-Year Tariff Order allocation to the tune of 187.21MWH. The Abuja DISCO took the most, with 132.81MWH; followed by the Kaduna Disco, with 23.21MWH; Ibadan, 16.24MWH; and Enugu, 12.42MWH. Further analysis showed that September saw the rejection of 476.36MW, representing 12 per cent of the total energy delivered to the Discos. It was, therefore, the highest load rejection in the quarter. The Abuja DISCO rejected 94.72MWH, followed closely by Port Harcourt, with 92.35MWH; Ibadan was next with 67.14MWH; and the Benin DISCO turned down 46.40MWH. Among all the DISCOs, only Kaduna accepted power beyond its MYTO allocation, taking in 65.96MWH in excess of its MYTO allocation.
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