Benin, Togo owe Nigeria $5.7m electricity debt — NERC
CHIGOZIE AMADI
International bilateral electricity customers in Benin Republic and Togo owe Nigeria $5.79m for the energy consumed in the second quarter of 2024.
The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) revealed this in their latest second-quarter 2024 report.
Out of the $15.60million invoice issued by the market operator between April and June, the international customers remitted $9.81mmillion.
The foreign companies off-taking power from Nigeria are Para-SBEE in Benin Republic ($1.23m), Transcorp-SBEE in Benin, Mainstream-NIGELEC in Togo ($1.09m), and Odukpani-CEET in Togo ($3.47m).
Para-SBEE in Benin Republic remitted 71.21 per cent of the $4.29m billed, Transcorp-SBEE in Benin remitted 100 per cent of the $4.25m it was billed; Mainstream-NIGELEC in Togo paid 69.72 of $3.59m, and Odukpani-CEET did not remit anything during the period.
In the first quarter, The PUNCH reported that none of the four international bilateral customers being supplied by the power generation companies made payments against the cumulative invoice of $14.19m issued by the market operator for services rendered.
In the Q2 report, it was noted that some bilateral customers (both domestic and international customers) made payments for outstanding invoices from previous quarters.
“Cumulatively, the international bilateral customers paid a total of $16.65m; Transcorp-SBEE and Mainstream-NIGELEC have made payments towards all outstanding invoices from previous quarters,” the report disclosed.
It added, “The four international bilateral customers being supplied by GenCos in the NESI made a payment of $9.81m against the cumulative invoice of $15.60m issued by the MO for services rendered in 2024/Q2, translating to a remittance performance of 62.88 per cent.”
The NERC noted that the domestic bilateral customers made a payment of N1.30bn against the cumulative invoice of N1.99bn issued to them by the MO for services rendered in 2024/Q2 translating to 65.07 per cent remittance performance.
The market operator received N1.30bn from domestic bilateral customers towards outstanding invoices from previous quarters.
Mainstream Energy Solutions was said to have made payments towards all outstanding invoices from previous quarters.
On electricity subsidy, it was disclosed that between 2024/Q1 and 2024/Q2, the Federal Government’s subsidy obligation was reduced by N253.24bn from N633.30bn (90.57 per cent of the total Genco invoice) to N380.06bn (52.51 per cent of the total GenCo invoice).
“The significant decrease in the subsidy obligation of the Federal Government is a result of the policy directive of the government to implement reviews of tariffs charged to Band A customers while the tariffs for Band B-E customers remain frozen at the rates payable since December 2022,” it was explained.
The commission revealed that the total revenue collected by all DisCos in 2024/Q2 was N431.16bn out of the N543.64bn that was billed to customers. This translates to a collection efficiency of 79.31 per cent.
In comparison, the total revenue collected by all Discos in 2024/Q1 was N291.62bn out of the N368.65bn billed to customers which translated to a 79.11 per cent collection efficiency. The 79.31 per cent collection efficiency recorded in 2024/Q2 is 0.20pp higher than the collection efficiency recorded in 2024/Q1.
Ikeja and Eko DisCos reportedly recorded the highest collection efficiencies of 94.67 per cent and 88.03 per cent respectively. Conversely, Yola DisCo recorded the lowest collection efficiency of 55.67 per cent.
