To improve the local electricity supply, the Federal Government has decided to reduce sales to cross-border markets in the Niger Republic, Niger Republic, and Togo.
The System Operator (SO), a branch of the Transmission Company of Nigeria, was instructed by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), which is in charge of regulating electricity, to restrict power supply to the three adjacent customers to 6%.
The vice chairman of the commission, Musiliu Oseni, and chairman of the commission, Sanusi Garba, jointly signed the NERC order, which was published on Friday. It was dated April 29, 2024 and went into effect on May 1, 2024.
The “Interim Order on Transmission System Dispatch Operations, Cross-border Supply, and Related Matters” document that contains the directive details its six-month duration, subject to modification.
The contract states that the amount of power delivered to Nigeria’s neighbours cannot at any given time exceed 6% of the total amount of electricity on the grid.
The regulator overseeing the electrical industry has voiced concerns regarding grid dispatch procedures that are not ideal, as these have affected Distribution Companies’ (DisCos’) capacity to fulfil their service pricing obligations to end consumers.
The memo stated, “It has proven neither efficient nor equitable to rely on limiting Discos’ load off-take while prioritising international off-takers and Eligible Customers.”
NERC emphasised that many of the existing bilateral and international contracts with Generation Companies (GenCos) do not meet industry standards.
It claimed that a large number of off-takers hired by GenCos on a bilateral basis take advantage of this priority and go above their contracted limits during peak operations without facing consequences.
NERC stated that the action was taken as a stopgap measure with the intention of assisting TCN and the system operator in putting Standard Operating Procedures into place to improve equity and transparency in grid operations.
In order to minimise the impact on Gencos’ domestic supply commitments, the ruling further directed the system operator to impose temporary limitations on capabilities delivered to overseas clients for the ensuing six months.
According to the paper, in order to guarantee fair load distribution to all off-takers (Discos, foreign customers, and qualifying consumers) during generation drops or grid imbalances, the system operator must create and submit a pro-rata load-shedding plan.
Hourly readings will be recorded and made public by the system operator, who will also enforce penalties for breaking grid rules and contracted nominations. In each trading hour, the maximum load allotted to foreign off-takers cannot surpass 6% of the total grid generation that is available.
The order stated in part as follows: “In the event of a drop in generation and other under-frequency related grid imbalances necessitating critical grid management, the commission hereby orders as follows: The system operator shall develop and present to the commission for approval within seven days of the issuance of this order a pro-rata load-shedding scheme that ensures equitable adjustment to load allocation to all off-takers — Discos, international customers, and eligible customers.”
The system operator will put in place a structure to record and make public hourly readings and enforce any
“Unless the commission grants a derogation in exceptional circumstances, the total capacity that a generating plant may nominate to service international off-takers shall not exceed 10% of its available generation capacity.”It further stated, “Without the express consent of the commission, the system operator shall hereby cease to recognise any capacity addition in bilateral transactions between a generator and an off-taker.”
In order to provide real-time visibility of aggregate offtake by grid, it was requested that “the system operator and TCN to immediately initiate and install integrated Internet of Things (IoT) metres at all off-take and delivery points of eligible customers, bilateral supplies, cross-border trades, and outgoing 33kV feeders of the Discos.”
“Within three months of the order date, the IOT metres’ installation and data streaming should be finished.”
