OpeOluwani Akintayo
13 December 2018, Sweetcrude, Lagos — Nigerians experienced a lower access to electricity in the second quarter of the year, according to the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, NERC.
NERC said in its newly-released report that the country’s power output dropped by 1.9 percent during the period.
Total electricity generated during the second quarter of 2018 decreased by 1.9% from 8,511,481MWh recorded in the first quarter of 2018, the commission said.
According to the report, the industry’s highest peak daily generation of 5,162MW for the second quarter of 2018, was recorded on the May 1.
During the same period, available generation capacity rose by 2.3% to 7,654MW relative to the first quarter of 2018.
This increase in available capacity is attributable to the increase in the number of available generation units after maintenance and overhaul of plant generation units.
On average, 79 plant generation units were available in the second quarter compared to 78 generation units available during the first quarter of 2018.
However, NERC said due to some factors such as gas constraint, transmission challenges, water management, and limited distribution network, the increase in the available capacity did not translate into an increase in output as total electricity generated during the second quarter of 2018 decreased by 1.9% from 8,511,481MWh recorded in the first quarter of 2018.
