Egbin Power Plant has announced that it may have to shut down operations,  over an accumulated debt of N110bn

Egbin Power Plant is ‘ one of the biggest single power generating stations in Africa‘, with a generating capacity of 1,320MW, consisting of 6 units of 220MW each. Though presently it doesn’t meet up to its capacity, it still generates about ‘30%’ of the country’s electricity. As a result of Government’s privatisation, in November 2013, Egbin Power plc was acquired by the partnership between New Electricity Distribution Company(NEDC) and the Korean Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO).

This debt of ₦110bn has been accumulated over the years. The power plant claims that it owes various bodies.

We owe the gas companies and have others like our technical partners (KEPCO) to pay, and importantly our lenders, the banks. We have made massive investments in making the plant available to generate electricity sustainably but unfortunately, we can’t break even due to the gross inefficiency in the value chain  -Dallas Peavey, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Egbin Power Plc

Egbin Power Plant has been in debt for some time now, as of September 2016, the power plant owed the debt of ₦99bn, and according to Dallas Peavey, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Egbin Power Plc,  the Federal Government owed the power plant ₦86bn.

The government has not held on to its own end of the deal with Egbin Power Plc as explained by the Dallas Peavey.

ALSO SEE: Nigerians face imminent blackout over Egbin’s unpaid debt

The government guarantees to pay us for every megawatt we generate and sell to Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading, NBET, but they have not done that. We just got paid for the month of December, 2016, three months later and we were only paid a paltry 28% of the total 100% of the verified and accepted invoice for that month. That is how the outstanding debts kept accumulating for three and half years now -Dallas Peavey, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Egbin Power Plc

For some time now, the electricity supply has taken a turn for the better, but if this coming crisis hits, the state of Nigeria’s electricity may become catastrophic.

Let me be honest, if Egbin fails, it’s going to be dark as Egbin provides close to 30 percent of Nigeria’s power, so let the required intervention be completed and urgently too -Dallas Peavey, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Egbin Power Plc

Electricity is of major importance in Nigeria, it’s inadequate supply already causes the Nation a lot, several businesses suffer because of epileptic power supply. Electricity affects a lot of things, even the quality of telecommunication service.

The Vice Chairman of Nigerian Communication Commission(NCC) Prof. Umar Danbatta laments on how unstable electricity is one of the challenges facing telecoms. If Egbin Power Plant shuts down, telecommunication operators will find it more challenging to provide quality service.

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Therefore, it’s little wonder what will happen when the company that generates about 30% of Nigeria’s electricity shut down. Electricity in Nigeria needs to only get better not take a turn for the worse.