The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) has reported that the nation’s electricity sector improved in safety rating within the Nigeria Electricity Supply Industry (NESI) in the first quarter of this year,
Despite the improvement, the industry regulator stated that it was still not satisfied with level of mandatory health and safety reports from licensees and charged them for more compliance rate.
In its just published Q1, 2024 report on the safety level in the sector, the NERC reported that 23 persons died in electricity-related incidents in 55 accidents, while 31 persons were injured during the period under review.
In addition, the report reflected that in Q1 2024, out of the 99 mandatory health and safety reports expected from licensees, only 82 reports were received.
A further analysis of the report’s findings showed that Power Generation Companies (GenCos) licensees with outstanding reports comprised Transafam Power (Afam IV-V), Mabon (Dadin Kowa), Egbin Power (Egbin), First Independent Power Limited (Eleme & Trans Amadi), Paras Energy (Paras), and Shell (Afam VI).
Similarly, it listed licensees under Electricity Distribution category (Discos) that defaulted in safety standards as Abuja, Eko, Ikeja, Jos, Kano, Yola, and the Nigeria Electricity Supply Corporation Limited (NESCO) while for transmission, the System Operator (SO) and Transmission Service Provider (TSP) were yet to comply.
The NERC maintained its readiness to continue to enforce 100 per cent reporting compliance by licensees as contained in the terms and conditions of their respective licences, and apply sanctions where applicable.
The commission noted that relative to 2023/Q4, the safety performance within the NESI improved with the number of fatalities decreasing significantly by 36.11 per cent, that is from 36 to 23, while the number of accidents and injuries increased marginally, that is +1.85 per cent and +3.33 per cent respectively.
It clarified: “During the quarter, NESCO and Yola were the only DisCos that did not record any casualties while Egbin was the only Genco with a safety accident.
“Out of the 54 casualties reported in the quarter, the licensees with the highest number of casualties were Eko (13), Benin (eight), Jos (six) and Aba (six) which represented 24.07 per cent, 14.81 per cent, 11.11 per cent and 11.11 per cent respectively.
“Cumulatively, Discos accounted for 96.30 per cent of causalities recorded in 2024/Q1 continuing a trend observed in previous quarters (98.48 per cent in 2023/Q4) that the distribution segment is the biggest contributor to safety issues experienced in the NESI”, the commission added.
It identified major causes of the accidents as wire snaps, which killed six persons injured six, illegal/unauthorised access caused five deaths and two injuries, acts of vandalism killed two and five injuries; unsafe acts/conditions caused 10 deaths and 12 injuries while falls from heights accounted for two injuries.
The Commission further disclosed that it had initiated investigations into all reported accidents and would enforce appropriate actions against licensees where necessary, and promised to closely monitor the implementation of licensees’ accident reduction strategy for the NESI while the sector’s health and safety code is undergoing a review process.
