The Nigerian government has ordered cuts to its electricity sales to Niger Republic, Benin Republic and Togo in order to meet insufficient domestic power needs.
The electricity regulator, Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) ordered a department within the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), the System Operator (SO), to cap power supply to the three neighbouring customers to six per cent.
Nigerian national daily, Vanguard, reported that NERC’s order, which was outlined in a document titled ‘Interim Order on Transmission System Dispatch Operations, Cross-border Supply, and Related Matters,’ will only last for six months, subject to change.
According to the document, power delivery to Nigeria’s neighbours must not exceed six per cent of the total grid electricity at any given time.
The electricity sector regulator expressed concern about sub-optimal grid dispatch practices, which have impacted the ability of Distribution Companies (DisCos) to meet their service tariff commitments to end-users in Nigeria.
“The reliance on limiting Discos’ load off-take while prioritising international off-takers and Eligible Customers has proven neither efficient nor equitable,” the document read.
The order called on the system operator to place interim caps on capacities supplied to international customers for the next six months, minimising the impact on domestic supply obligations by Gencos.
The document stated that the system operator must develop and present a proportional load-shedding scheme to ensure equitable load allocation to all off-takers (Discos, international customers, and eligible customers) during generation drops or grid imbalances.
“The system operator will log and publish hourly readings, enforcing penalties for violations of grid instructions and contracted nominations. Maximum load allocation to international off-takers in each trading hour shall not exceed six per cent of the total available grid generation,” the document instructed.
