Operators of General Companies (GenCos) have disclosed that the electricity market owes them N1.644 trillion as capacity charges for their power plants since 2015. They also blamed the recent drop in power supply on faulty national grid management.
Executive Secretary of the Association of Power Generation Companies (APGC), Dr Joy Ogaji, disclosed that before the Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading (NBET) took over payment services of generated and distributed electricity in 2015, the Market Operator paid GenCos for their capacity and generated energy since 2013 when the sector was privatized based on the privatization agreements till 2014 before NBET took over.
She added that, the unpaid available capacity charge which the NBET owes the commission is N1.644.15 trillion.
Ogaji stated further that the GenCos are supposed to start and stop a maximum of 20 times a year but in Nigeria, the GenCos start and stop 365 days every year and this wear and tear is affecting the plants which causes maintenance issues at a time when they should be operating at optimal capacity.
Reacting to the capacity charge debt, the Head Corporate Communication at the Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading(NBET), Henrietta Ighomrore, dismissed the N1.6tr figure saying only companies with active Gas Purchase Agreements were paid for unutilized capacity.
