The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) has issued an order to cap the supply of power to neighboring countries such as Benin Republic, Niger Republic, and Togo to 6%. The order, titled 'Interim Order on Transmission System Dispatch Operations, Cross-border Supply, and Related Matters,' was jointly signed by the commission's Chairman, Sanusi Garba, and Vice Chairman, Musiliu Oseni, and was published on May 3rd, 2024, and will be effective from May 1st, 2024, for six months, subject to review.
According to the directive, NERC has stated that prioritizing international customers and limiting the distribution companies (Discos) offtake during times of imbalances in the grid is both inefficient and inequitable. The order also stipulates that electricity generation companies cannot allocate more than 10% of their generation capacity to international off-takers in the next six months.
Furthermore, NERC has directed the system operators and the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) to install IoT meters at all offtake and delivery points of Eligible Customers, bilateral supplies, cross-border trades, and outgoing 33kv feeders of the DisCos to provide real-time data on supply to offtakers.
The Regulatory Commission mandates the system operators to publish hourly readings of adherence to grid instructions to check for violations of offtake contracts and also publish the previous day's hourly log reading to market participants.
