BPE offers five GenCos to investors

The Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) has called on prospective investors to express interest in purchasing 100 percent shareholding in any of the five power generation companies under the National Integrated Power Project (NIPP) listed for sale.

It said this in a document signed by the Director-General, Mr. Alex Okoh, and made available to reporters.

It is in continuation of the ongoing reforms of the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry and consistent with the Nigerian Electric Power Policy and Electric Power Sector Reform (EPSR) Act, 2005.

BPE said the Board of Directors of Niger Delta Power Holding Company (NDPHC) and the National Council on Privatisation had approved the sale of the five companies through a competitive bidding process.

The companies are located in Kogi, Edo, Cross River, Ondo and Ogun.

The five in-service generation plants are Geregu Generation Company Ltd with gross installed capacity at ISO condition of 506 Megawatts (MW) and Benin (Ihovbor) Generation Company Ltd with 507 MW.

Others are Calabar Generation Ltd with 634MW, Omotosho Generation Ltd with 513MW and Olorunsogo Generation Company Ltd with 754MW.

Prospective investors are expected to submit separate Expressions of Interest (EoI) for each generation company.

“Each bidder must be an experienced power generation company that owns and/or operates utility size power plants.

“In case of a consortium, at least one of the consortium members must be an experienced power generation company (the “Technical Partner”).

“The technical partner shall be responsible for providing operation, maintenance and management services under a long-term agreement.”

Also yesterday, Nigeria Consumer Protection Network President, Kunle Olubiyo, said the 11 Electricity Distribution Companies (DisCos) cannot do without the N120 billion Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) metering intervention.

He described the gesture as a welcome development.

He told our reporter: “CBN intervention in DisCos is a welcome development. If the consumers’ transformers break down, the majority of the DisCos will be helpless.”

According to him, the DisCos cannot provide the resources to procure equipment, such as new transformers, nor can they refurbish the old ones.

He attributed the situation to the cash constraints among the energy distributing firms.

Olubiyo said: “They have not been able to effectively pull out funds to invest in procurement, repair or replacement of transformers.

“If your community has an issue and writes to any of the DisCos, they will be helpless.”

Olubiyo said the DisCos are expected to provide obligors to access the fund that is in an escrow account in the CBN.

With this, the government can prevent the power firms from diverting the funds.

Olubiyo said: “They (DisCos) don’t have money to invest in the sector, and the issue of meters is germane.

“The Federal Government now decided to come in to provide the funding and their management were asked to provide what is called an obligor. It is an undertaking, obligation, irreversible standing order.

“Each of the DisCos, if they are given the money, may divert them into frivolous things. The CBN has escrowed the account.”

The CBN is investing about 120 Million in the DisCos.

It has reportedly disbursed about N3.6 billion for procurement of pre-paid metres to stabilise the billing system in public electricity consumption in Nigeria.

This is coming against the backdrop of complaints by electricity consumers of outrageous and baseless billings called ‘estimated billings’ by the distribution companies.