A report obtained on Thursday from the System Operations (SO), a department of the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) has shown that the level of electricity distribution by the 11 electricity distribution companies (Discos) in the country has significantly dropped to 2,962.82 megawatts (MW) or 46.73 per cent.
The report, which showed the level of unutilised power generation by the Discos, said while the certified distribution capacity of the 11 Discos had remained at 6,235.66MW, their actual consumption had, however, declined to 2,962.82MW.
It came at a time when the TCN has raised the bar on its push to cleanse the Nigerian electricity market of recalcitrant transactional behaviours by operators in the market, mostly the Discos.
It was gathered that in addition to its fine of several Discos for market transactional failures, the Market Operator (MO), another department of TCN, might fine Kaduna Disco for alleged market infractions.
The plan to sanction Kaduna Disco by the MO coincided with the MO’s plan to disconnect Kano Disco from the national grid in about five days if the Disco fails to defend why an impending enforcement action against it should be stopped.
The MO said Kano Disco had severally abused the transaction processes of the market and was owing it N315,805,053.49 representing 50 per cent of its May 2019 supply invoice, in addition to other market infractions.
However, the market report obtained on the Discos distribution capacity stated that while they usually nominate to take an average of 3,700.58MW from the national grid, their actual demand has dropped to about 2,962.82MW.
Additionally, the capacity taken by the Discos is reported to be below the daily supply volume approved in the Multi Year Tariff Order (MYTO) by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), which is 4,654.15MW.