GenCos: Abysmal performance of DisCos responsible for challenges in power sector

The Association of Power Generation Companies (APGC) says the abysmal performance of electricity distribution companies (DisCos) is responsible for the challenges in the power sector.

In a statement on Tuesday, Joy Ogaji, executive secretary of APGC, said the generation companies are being short-changed as they don’t receive full payment for the amount of power generated.

Ogaji said this in response to a statement by the Association of Nigeria Electricity Distributors (ANED), the umbrella body of the Discos, stating that the energy sent out by the GenCos had consistently fallen short of its Multi-Year Order Tariff (MYTO) generation assumptions.

She stated that the power on the grid is determined purely by what the DisCos decide to take and not what is declared as available to be supplied by the GenCos or documented by the system operator.

“For purposes of clarity, Available Capacity is the amount of electricity a generator can produce. It can be equal to or below the nameplate capacity due to ageing, equipment failure or obsolescence of the units,” the statement read.

“The Available Capacity forms the basis for payment for capacity charge component, billed to finance the fixed cost of the plant, debt and other fixed operating and maintenance costs.

“The term Available Generation Capacity could mean different things to different market participants. To the DisCos, this seems to mean “what TCN can dispatch and what DisCos can take”.However, to the GenCos, the System Operator, NBET and NERC, it means what has been declared, tested and deemed available. A great misunderstanding from the DisCos perspective indeed!

“If this is the case, we do not see how the Discos whose abysmal performance is responsible for the state of the market cries wolf and foul. It is akin to the story of the millipede and the person who stepped on the millipede.”