NERC Issues 13 New Power Generation, Distribution Licences

The Nigerian Government has granted 13 new licenses through the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) for the generation, distribution, and trading of off-grid and embedded power.

NERC said that the new licences were issued in third quarter (Q3) 2023, with a cumulative electricity generation of 40.9 megawatts by the licensees.

Five new off-grid generation licences that would generate 8.81MW were issued, as well as one new licence for embedded generation of 5MW.

Other new licences were issued for various sectors, including Independent Electricity Distribution Network, trading, off-grid generation, embedded generation, and IEDN.

Nigeria generates between 3,500MW and 5,000MW of electricity for its 200 million citizens, a production that has been described as inadequate for the largest economy in Africa.

On January 15, Nigeria’s power generation reached 4,357.09MW, with peak generation at 4,579.5MW and off-peak at 4,062.98MW, causing widespread blackouts in rural areas.

Nigeria, with 86 million out of its 200 million population lacking access to electricity, was identified as the country with the largest number of people without electricity in June 2023.