Electricity generation capacity drops to 5,564MW in Q1 2020 – The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) has said the average generation capacity of the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry (NESI) dipped by 11 per cent to 5,564Mw in First Quarter (2020).
According to the quarter report, which The Nation obtained at the weekend, “the industry recorded a daily generation peak of 5,268MW, in the first quarter of 2020 on February26, 2020.
Available average generation capacity fell by 11.58 per cent to 5,564MW during the first quarter of 2020.”
The report attributed the decrease in generation capacity to the increase in the number of generation units undergoing maintenance and overhaul, which made them unavailable for operation in the quarter.
NERC said on the average, 66 plant generation units were available during the first quarter of the year, compared to 70 generation units available during the fourth quarter of last year.
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It, however, added that due to an improvement in the capacity utilisation, the electric energy generated increased by 6.33 per cent from 8,101,192.72MWh recorded in the fourth quarter to 8,613,997.79MWh in the first quarter of the year.
The report said: ” 71.02 per cent of the available capacity was utilised in the first quarter of 2020, indicating 12.17 percentage points increase on the capacity utilisation rate recorded in the fourth quarter of 2019.
“The improved capacity utilisation was due to the reductions in technical and operational constraints relating to an inadequate gas supply, transmission constraints, limited distribution networks, and commercially induced low load off-take by DisCos.”
On commercial performance, NERC said the energy received by DisCos at their trading points increased by 3.99 per cent to 7,195 in 2020/Q1 from the 6,918GWh recorded in 2019/Q4.
This increase, according to the commission, is reflective of the 6.33 per cent increase in the total energy generated during the quarter as compared to 2019/Q4.