Power Supply: NERC Says 20 companies granted generating permit in 2025
The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) has announced that an additional 20 firms secured captive power generation permits in the third quarter of 2025, enabling them to produce a combined 5.85 megawatts independently and potentially reduce reliance on the faltering national grid.
NERC, in its latest quarterly report released this week, stated that these companies opted for self-generation licenses exceeding 1MW capacity exclusively for internal use, reflecting escalating frustration with grid unreliability.
“Captive power plants above 1MW require NERC permits to ensure they operate solely for the license holder’s consumption without selling to third parties,” the regulator explained, underscoring the surge in such approvals amid persistent supply deficits.
The commission reported that grid-connected generation averaged just 4,179 megawatt-hours per hour in Q3 2025, resulting in lower output due to gas constraints that slashed production by 602 gigawatt-hours.
NERC attributed this to ongoing feedstock shortages, noting, “Average hourly output stood at 4,179.15 MWh/h, translating to reduced overall supply despite available capacity hovering around 5,400MW.”
This performance lags far behind captive capacities, which now surpass grid levels nationwide.
