Energy glossary

The standard unit for crude oil and refined products: 42 US gallons, or about 159 litres. Oil output is usually quoted in barrels per day (b/d).

Batteries that store electricity when it is plentiful and release it when needed, smoothing the output of solar and wind and supporting the grid.

Combining public or philanthropic money, often on concessional terms, with private investment so that projects too risky for private capital alone can be financed.

The benchmark price for light, sweet crude oil from the North Sea, used to price most of the world’s internationally traded oil, including Nigeria’s.

How much electricity a plant actually produces over a period, as a share of what it would produce running at full output all the time. Solar farms typically reach 15–25%, nuclear plants over 90%.

Grams of carbon dioxide emitted for each kilowatt-hour of electricity generated. It falls as a grid replaces coal, oil and gas with low-carbon sources.

Cooking with fuels and stoves that do not pollute the home, such as electricity, LPG, natural gas, biogas or ethanol, rather than wood, charcoal, dung or kerosene.

Loans on better terms than the market offers: lower interest, longer repayment or grace periods. Development banks and climate funds provide it to make projects affordable.

The difference between the price of crude oil and the products refined from it, such as petrol and diesel: a measure of refining margins.

The wholesale auction where electricity for each hour of the next day is bought and sold. Its prices are the reference for most European power contracts.

Reducing the carbon dioxide emitted by an economy or sector, mainly by switching from fossil fuels to low-carbon energy and using energy more efficiently.

A company that delivers electricity from the transmission grid to homes and businesses and bills them. Nigeria’s distribution companies were privatised in 2013.

The part of the oil and gas industry that refines crude oil and processes gas and sells the products — petrol, diesel, LPG — to consumers. Upstream is exploration and production; midstream is transport and storage.

The price customers pay per kilowatt-hour, set or approved by a regulator. In Nigeria, the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) sets tariffs by customer band.

Power plants connected directly to a distribution network, close to the customers they serve, rather than to the national transmission grid.

Having a reliable, affordable electricity supply and clean cooking. Universal access by 2030 is the first target of Sustainable Development Goal 7.

The energy an economy uses to produce each unit of GDP. A falling figure means the economy is becoming more energy-efficient.

The uninterrupted availability of energy at an affordable price: enough supply, from diverse sources, resilient to shocks such as conflicts, outages or price spikes.

The shift of the world’s energy system from fossil fuels towards renewable and other low-carbon sources, alongside greater efficiency and electrification.

A guaranteed price paid to producers for each unit of renewable electricity they supply to the grid, usually fixed for many years to make investment predictable.

The point at which a project’s owners commit the money to build it. Before FID a project is planned; after it, construction begins.

Government spending that keeps the price consumers pay for fuel below its market cost. Nigeria ended its petrol subsidy in 2023.

Burning off natural gas released during oil production instead of capturing and using it. It wastes energy and emits carbon dioxide and pollutants.

A company that owns and operates power stations and sells their output into the grid.

One thousand megawatts, or one billion watts: a measure of power, the rate at which energy is produced or used. A large power station is about 1 GW.

The network of transmission lines, substations and distribution lines that carries electricity from power plants to consumers.

The pricing point for natural gas futures in the United States, at a pipeline hub in Louisiana, and the benchmark for US gas prices.

A privately owned company that builds and runs power plants and sells the electricity, usually to a utility under a long-term power purchase agreement.

Moving to a low-carbon economy in a way that is fair to workers, communities and countries that depend on fossil fuels, and that does not leave developing economies without the energy they need to grow.

The unit of electrical energy on household bills: the energy used by a 1,000-watt appliance running for one hour.

Natural gas cooled to about −162 °C so that it becomes liquid and can be shipped by tanker to markets that pipelines do not reach. Nigeria is a major exporter.

Propane and butane stored as a liquid under pressure in cylinders, widely used for cooking and heating.

A small, independent electricity network, often powered by solar panels and batteries, serving a village, market or campus that the national grid does not reach.

One million British thermal units: the standard unit for pricing natural gas and LNG.

Each country’s plan under the Paris Agreement for cutting emissions and adapting to climate change, updated every five years.

The point at which the greenhouse gases a country or company emits are balanced by those it removes from the atmosphere.

Electricity supplied without a connection to the national grid, from solar home systems, mini-grids or generators.

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, of which Nigeria is a member, together with allied producers including Russia, coordinating crude oil output.

The name used in Nigeria and other markets for petrol (gasoline).

A long-term contract under which a buyer, often a utility, agrees to buy electricity from a power plant at an agreed price. It is the basis on which most power projects are financed.

Energy from sources that are naturally replenished: sunlight, wind, flowing water, the Earth’s heat and biomass.

A state-owned investment fund, often built from oil and gas revenues, that invests for future generations or to develop the domestic economy.

Electricity lost between the power plant and the customer, through the physical resistance of wires and through theft and unbilled use.

The unit used for large natural gas reserves. Nigeria’s proven gas reserves are the largest in Africa.

The Dutch virtual trading point whose natural gas price is the benchmark for Europe.

The benchmark price for US crude oil, delivered at Cushing, Oklahoma.