Power DisCos owe GenCos; may lead to more power cuts
By Jeph Ajobaju, Chief Copy Editor
Electricity generation companies (GenCos) say they are not producing at full capacity because “our generation is driven by demand” but “Nigerians don’t want power” as the national grid cannot take up full supply.
GenCos also blame power distribution companies (DisCos) for part of the problem, disclosing they owe GenCos N2 trillion.
“GenCos are not owed N500 billion as accepted by NBET [the Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading].
“We are owed N2 trillion, while we owe suppliers N1 trillion,” Association of Power Generation Companies (APGC) Executive Secretary Joy Ogaji clarified in Lagos.
She said the operations of GenCos are being hampered by the money owed them by NIBET, the manager and administrator of the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry (NES)I.
NIBET collects tariffs on behalf of the Transmission Company Nigeria (TCN), GenCos, and DisCos.
Ogaji disclosed that although GenCos currently have enough generating capacity, the market is not available as DisCos cannot take all power generated.
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Power generation driven by demand
“Nigerians don’t want power because there is no demand for it. For instance, Egbin, which has over 1,000 capacity, has not been able to generate 800MW because there’s no demand,” Ogaji said, per The PUNCH.
“Our generation is driven by demand, and the demand is not there. Nigerians are not demanding for power and we are in huge debt.
“We have the capacity to generate more for the country, but the national grid has not been able to take everything we produce. Then we get blamed for companies shutting down and leaving for other countries.
“As we speak, there is yet a proof that Nigeria needs power because if the country needs power, all hands will be on ground to ask for more than what we currently generate, and be willing to pay for it.
“That is when we can be held responsible for not increasing generation.”
