DisCos reject 3,814.61MW of electricity in 7 days – Report
Solomon Ezeme
Despite Nigeria’s perennial power crisis arising from frequent grid collapses and irregular supply, a total of 3,814.61 Mega Watts(MW) of electricity transmitted by the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) have been rejected by the eleven (11) electricity distribution companies (DisCos) in Nigeria, between April 26 and May 2, 2022.
EnergyDay in a recent data obtained from the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), gathered that the eleven(11) DisCos within the period under review, only managed to receive and distribute 24,283.86MW out of the 28,098.47MW transmitted by the TCN during the 7-day period.
This implies that the DisCos rejected about 3,814.61MW from the 28,098.47MW available for transmission in the TCN’s network.
Based on the data seen by EnergyDay, on Tuesday, April 26,the 11 DisCos only distributed 3699.74MW out of the total 3856.21MW sent to them by the TCN , amounting of waste of 156.47MW within the distribution network.
On Wednesday, April 27, only 3621MW was distributed out of about 4,046.36MW received from TCN, leaving a difference of 425.34MW rejected by the DisCos.
Another 432.64MW was wasted within the distribution network on Thursday, April 28 after TCN transmitted about 3,765.66MW to the distribution network. The data for that day showed that only 3333.02MW was received by the DisCos.
Daily load allocation from TCN to DisCos on Friday, April 29, showed that out of about 4,035.36MW electricity sent out by the TCN to the DisCos, only 3174MW was distributed, leaving a difference of 860.98MW lost to the DisCos’ networks.
Meanwhile, about 942.41MW could not reach the DisCos network on Saturday, April 30, out of about 4,205.11MW transmitted to their network. The DisCos’ load allocation was 3262.7MW for that particular day.
Whereas on Sunday, May 1 about 755.25MW was lost between TCN and DisCos, as data for the day showed that only 3343.02MW was received by the distribution company out of the 4,098.27MW transmitted.
However on Monday, May 2, the DisCos were unable to receive 758.48MW out of the 4,091.50MW available for transmission. Data showed that only 3333.02MW was distributed on that day.
Nigeria has an installed generation capacity of about 13,000MW. EnergyDay gathered that peak generation in the country was 4,326.3MW as at Wednesday, May 4, when this report was filed.
Analysts described the cause of losses to technical challenges associated with the distribution and transmission network. They have also charged the Federal Government and the DisCos to invest more in power infrastructure and ensure that power losses are avoided at all cost, considering the growing energy demand by electricity users.
Engr. Leke Awosoga, a retired staff of the defunct PHCN , disclosed that most of the losses incurred within the transmission and distribution network are often caused by electricity theft, obsolete distribution infrastructure.
He said some DisCos would prefer to reject power from TCN in order to minimize their losses due to estimated unbilled used energy and unpaid bills by electricity customers.
Mr Sunday Oduntan, speaking on behalf of the Association of Nigerian Electricity Distribution, ANED, revealed that loads are sometimes rejected from TCN, because some customers find it convenient not to pay for electricity used.
He said, “ DisCos have been incurring huge revenue collection losses with the current tariff regime.”
He noted that the distribution companies are into business and since customers are not paying for power consumed, the DisCos are left with the choice of rejecting or redistribute to areas that can afford to pay them.
Oduntan confirmed that the DisCos have been making significant investments in infrastructure to distribute electricity to customers who can afford it. He added that losses attributed to infrastructure challenge, are not limited to DisCos alone, arguing that the TCN also share in the losses due to lack of facility to evacuate to the distribution network.
