Liquidity challenges of Distribution Companies pose high risk
to the execution of bilateral power contract1
The bilateral power contracts introduced by Nigerian Electricity
Regulatory Commission NERC to aid the direct sale of power from
Generation Companies (GenCos) to Distribution Companies (DisCos)
may be challenged by the liquidity challenges faced by most of the
DisCos.
NERC had earlier in the year, instructed the 3 biggest DisCos -
Eko, Ikeja and Abuja DisCos, to commence the implementation of
bilateral contracts with GenCos of their choice effective 31 March
2023. The bilateral power contract follows an unsuccessful
implementation of the partial activation exercise of the Power
Purchase Agreement (PPA) in June 2022 which was overseen by NERC
and the Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading Plc (NBET). The PPA
created a long-term contract with GenCos with conditions for
purchase of electricity generated by the companies. The PPA was not
fully implemented due to