… Total revenue from DisCos amount N553.63bn
By Onu Okorie
The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, NERC has disclosed that the average available generation capacity of the grid-connected power plants increased by 69.99MW (+1.32%) from the 5,296.89MW recorded in 2024/Q4 to 5,366.88MW during the first quarter 2025.
This was made known in its 2025 first quarter report released yesterday in Abuja. NERC also put the total electricity distribution companies DisCos’ revenue collection at N553.63 billion in the first quarter (Q1) of 2025
The report also explained that the amount was realised from a total billing of N744.27 billion issued to customers within the period.
Other findings in the 2025/Q1 report indicate that there were twenty-eight 28 grid-connected power plants consisting of, five hydro, two steam, 19 Open Circuit Gas Turbines OCGT and two Closed Circuit Gas Turbine CCGT plants.
Across the quarters, 15 out of the 28 grid-connected power plants recorded increases in available capacity, while the remaining 13 recorded decreases.
“The 74.39 per cent collection efficiency recorded in 2025/Q1 is 3.05 Percentage Point PP lower than the collection efficiency recorded in 2024/Q4 which represents 77.44 percent,” the report said.
NERC said four DisCos recorded collection efficiencies of over 80 percent, with Eko DisCo leading at 84.79 percent.
The most significant increase in average available generation capacity in 2025/Q1 compared to 2024/Q4 was recorded in Omotosho_2 (+405.24%).
Notable increases in available capacity across the quarters were also recorded in Trans Amadi_1 (+157.32%), Delta_1 (+43.56%), Afam_1 (+26.29%), Afam_2 (+23.67%), Sapele_2 (+16.63%), and Geregu_1 (+15.42%) power plants.
Conversely, there were significant decreases in the average available capacities of Olorunsogo_2 (-65.69%), Dadin Kowa_1 (-52.91%), Sapele Steam_1 (-37.38%), and Ibom Power_1 (-27.69%) power plants in 2025/Q1 compared to 2024/Q4.
The availability factor of a plant is measured as a ratio of the maximum rated output of the plant declared by the operator (available capacity) relative to the maximum rated output specified by the manufacturer (installed capacity).
The available capacity of a plant may change from time to time due to several factors, including i) atmospheric conditions at the plant; ii) mechanical availability of the plant
The plant availability factor (PAF) is a critical parameter for evaluating the overall health of the upstream segment of the NESI.
In 2025/Q1, the average plant availability factor for all grid-connected plants was 39.39%, i.e. at any point in time during the quarter, ~60.61% of the installed capacity across the 28 grid-connected power plants was not available for dispatch onto the grid.
Overall, nine power plants had availability factors above 50%, with Ikeja_1 power plant recording the highest availability factor at 99.18%. On the other end of the spectrum, Alaoji_1 recorded a PAF of 0% in 2025/Q1, i.e. the plant was not operationally available throughout the quarter.
The gross PAF of 39.39% recorded in 2025/Q1 represents a 0.51pp increase relative to the 38.88% PAF that was recorded in 2024/Q4. Significant increases were recorded in the PAF of many thermal plants, including Delta_1 (+16.51pp), Omotosho_2 (+9.76pp), Afam_2 (+7.26pp), and Geregu_1 (+4.24pp) in 2025/Q1 compared to 2024/Q4.
Conversely, the PAF of Dadin Kowa_1 decreased significantly by 45.96pp during the quarter (40.90% in 2025/Q1 compared to 86.85% in 2024/Q4).
Reductions in PAF were also recorded at Olorunsogo_2 (-9.55pp), Omotosho_1 (-7.18pp), Odukpani (-6.56pp) and Shiroro (-6.36pp.
The hourly output produced by all the units in a power plant fluctuates based on grid demand, mechanical operability of the unit(s), and the availability of feedstock. Plants are only dispatched when the load on the grid is sufficient to offtake the energy while operating the grid within acceptable technical limits.
The hourly generation and the total generation increased by +13.39% and +10.92%10 respectively in 2025/Q1 compared to 2024/Q4; the hourly generation increased from 4,207.41MWh/h generated in 2024/Q4 to 4,770.59MWh/h (+563.18MWh/h), while the total generation increased from 9,289.95GWh generated in 2024/Q4 to 10,304.47GWh (+1,014.52GWh) in 2025/Q1.
The increase in quarterly generation is attributable to the increase in the cumulative available generation capacity of the grid-connected plants.
In total, 19 plants recorded increases in their output across the quarters, with a total of 563.18MWh/h. The largest contributors to the 563.18MWh/h increase in average hourly generation recorded in 2025/Q1 are Delta_1 (157.58MWh/h), Geregu_2 (71.95MWh/h), Egbin_1 (68.20MWh/h), Afam_2 (68.03MWh/h) and Zungeru_1 (59.50MWh/h).
Conversely, Jebba_1 (- 46.36MWh/h) and Dadin-Kowa_1 (-12.39MWh/h) accounted for 56.18% of the total reduction in average hourly generation output recorded across nine (9) plants between the quarters.
Cumulatively, the average hourly generation of the five grid-connected hydro power plants increased by 54.93MWh/h (+4.00%) in 2025/Q1 compared to 2024/Q4.
This is due to the increase in generation of three out of the five hydropower plants in 2025/Q1 compared to 2024/Q4. The average hourly generation of Zungeru_1 (+23.55%), Shiroro_1 (+12.21%), and Kainji_1 (+4.80%) increased in 2025/Q1 compared to 2024/Q4.
