In relation to the $14.19 million cumulative invoice issued by the market operator for services delivered in the first quarter of 2024, none of the four international bilateral clients served by the power production businesses in the Nigerian electricity supply industry made payment.
This was disclosed in a report our source saw from the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission.
The foreign firms are Mainstream-NIGELEC in Togo ($1.21 million), Odukpani-CEET in Togo ($5.36 million), Para-SBEE in Benin Republic ($3.15 million), and Transcorp-SBEE in Benin ($4.46 million).
According to NERC, no remittances have been paid by bilateral clients within the nation in relation to the N1.86 million cumulative invoice that the market operator sent them for services delivered in the first quarter of 2024.
However, it was mentioned that a few bilateral clients—both domestic and foreign clients—paid unpaid Market Operator invoices from earlier quarters throughout the quarter.
Two overseas clients paid a total of $5.96 million in installments. Similarly, eight local bilateral customers paid N505.71m to the market operator to settle obligations that were accrued before to 2024/Q1, according to the report.
The market operator should, according to the commission, use the provisions of the market rules to curb what it considered to be the payment indiscipline being displayed by both domestic and foreign bilateral clients.
It was revealed in May that foreign consumers had not paid Nigeria the estimated $51.26 million that Nigeria had sold to power users in 2023.
This was made clear by the Federal Government through industry statistics that displayed customer non-remittances.
Furthermore, in 2023, the bilateral power users failed to pay the Nigerian power sector around N7.61 billion.
NERC denounced the move, calling it payment irresponsibility that needs to be reined in by the Market Operator, a division of the TCN, the company in charge of exporting power from Nigeria.