Nigeria has issued 37 new permits to produce 762.3 megawatts (MW) of electricity to boost power supply, The Punch newspaper reported, citing the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC).

The commission granted four new generation licences with a total nameplate capacity of 508.5 MW and the renewal of two existing licences in the four quarter of 2021, the report said.

Approvals were also granted for an aggregate capacity of 253.75 MW captive power generation permit to eight companies with 25 mini-grid permits.

A total of 46 metering service providers comprising 17 installers, 15 manufacturers, two vendors and 12 importers were approved by the commission in the fourth quarter of last year.

Also in the fourth quarter of 2021, NERC approved 85 new permits.

The report said that the number of metered power users fell 72.86% year-on-year, citing that the large metering gap for end-use customers is still a key challenge.

(Editing by Cleofe Maceda; cleofe.maceda@lseg.com)