The Nigerian Government through the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) has approved 13 new licenses for six companies for the generation of off-grid and embedded power, distribution as well as the trading of electricity.
According to the 2023 NERC third-quarter report under the section titled, ‘Licenses and Permits Issued or Renewed,’ five new off-grid generation licenses that would generate 8.81MW were issued as well as one new license for embedded generation of 5MW.
The details of the 13 new licenses by NERC showed that Daybreak Power Solutions Limited received eight licences for various off-grid power generation projects in Lagos, Abia, Borno, Kano, Oyo and Abuja.
Olokiti Power Distribution Limited which will be operating in Ekiti state received an Independent Electricity Distribution Network licence.
Ekiti Independent Power Project also got a licence to develop a 5MW embedded power gas-fired project still in Ekiti State.
Another company, Ember Power Limited got one electricity trading licence, while Island Power Limited also got a licence for the development of a 10MW embedded gas-fired power project in Lagos.
Also, Energy Company of Nigeria Limited was issued an Independent Electricity Distribution Network licence to be operational in Lagos State.
The state of power generation in Nigeria has been dwindling despite the trillions of naira invested in the sector. This has led to various complaints by Power consumer groups who have openly condemned the poor electricity supply in the country.
Nigeria’s power generation, which has been pegged between 3,500MW and 5,000MW for the over 200 million people across the country, has been described as poor for Africa’s biggest economy.
The Nigeria Consumer Protection Network (NCPN) has over time, asked the federal government to take urgent steps in reviewing the extant privatisation exercise and tackle the lingering corruption in the sector in order to avoid a total collapse of the industry.