By Adewale Sanyaolu
The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission(NERC) has said plans have been concluded for the power sector value chain to deliver a minimum 5,000MW by July 1, 2022.
Executive Chairman of NERC, Mr. Sanusi Garba, stated this as part of deliberations at the second Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry stakeholders meeting which ended in Lagos, yesterday.
Garba explained that going forward, there will be commitments among players in the value chain to commit to contracts among themselves in the area of deliverables among all parties involved which will be binding.
He said GenCos must commit to gas contracts with gas suppliers while DisCos will also commit to taking electricity generated by Gencos without rejecting them.
He added that the transmission infrastructure is capable of delivering above 5,000MW.
Garba said going forward, every member of the value chain has a role to play in ensuring that this policy direction works.
He warned that an operator found wanting will be penalised during the new power deal to take effect July 1.
The NERC Chairman disclosed further that the agency has identified some power plants that will have a robust contract for gas to power in order to support this latest initiative.
The NERC boss lamented it remained worrisome that some power plants don’t have a gas agreement in place, adding that the sector cannot move forward if there are no gas agreements in place as it was only such agreements that can keep the sector moving forward.
‘’We are not pushing for penalties, but should any DisCo or GenCo breaches the agreement, there will be penalties to all parties concerned.’’
On the incessant system collapse, he said the industry was working assiduously to ensure that it reduces the level of collapse drastically.
According to Garba, there are a couple of external factors that contribute to grid collapse, including deliberate sabotage of crude oil pipelines as a major factor, pointing out that when such incidences happen, gas supply is often impacted.
The NERC chairman however assured Nigerians that the challenge of estimated billing will soon be a thing of the past as phase one of the National Mass Metering Programme(NMMP) to roll out about four million free prepaid meters will kick off in August.
Prior to the take-off of the NMMP 1, he said the Commission was working on a revised capping process that will be based on a rolling three month average, whereby electricity consumption pattern of those without meters is studied over a three month period for the purpose of issuing electricity bills.