By Emmanuel Addeh
A former Managing Director of the Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading Limited (NBET), Mr. Rumundaka Wonodi, has said that the proposed sale of five power generating plants by the federal government will not solve Nigeriaâs perennial supply challenges, especially in the short-term. Wonodi, however, described the recent moves to dispose of the assets as more of a revenue generation drive, rather than stabilising the sector.
He advised that more states should be actively involved in getting experts to boost power supply in their respective domains.
The federal government had recently approved the sale of five generating companies – Geregu, Benin (Ihovbor), Calabar, Omotosho and Olorunsogo power generation companies, built under the National Integrated Power Project (NIPP).
Two major electricity distribution companies in the country, the Eko Electricity Distribution Company (EKEDC) and Ikeja Electric have secured the approval
According to the orders signed by the chairman, Sanusi Garba and the Commissioner, Legal, Licencing and Compliance, Dafe Akpeneye on April 29, 2021, the approved PIP is expected to start by July 1, 2021 and end by June 30, 2026.
There are anticipations of a tariff increase as the DisCos could only generate the N756bn fund through the tariff.
NERC recently announced it is reviewing the Multi Year Tariff Order (MYTO) 2020 tariff and could implement the result on July 1, just as the Minister of Power, Engr. Sale Mamman, clarified in a statement that the increase would not be significant.
According to the information contained in separate orders to the 11 DisCos, the highest fund approval went to Ikeja DisCo as it got N121.9bn to implement its network improvement target. It was followed by Kaduna DisCo with N114bn target; Eko DisCo is the third with N93.76bn expenditure while Benin DisCo will spend N93.5bn on these investments.
Nigeria needs to increase its electricity generation from about 5,000 to 100,000 Megawatts to power the nation’s economy.
This was disclosed by the Chairman of Transcorp Group, Tony Elumelu in an interview on Arise TV on Wednesday. According to him, the nation needs to stabilize its transmission lines, provide adequate gas supply and strengthen her payment plans.
He said,
“Nigeria needs about 100,000 MW to power the economy. It also needs to stabilize the transmission lines and ensure access to gas supply.
For Nigerians to heave a sigh of relief in the sector, it needs to boost generation, fix gas supply to GenCos, boost payment of distribution and ensure power generated are taken by DisCos. Here I must commend the CBN Governor because he has helped to maintain peace in the space.
Punch Newspapers
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Okechukwu Nnodim,
Published 4 May 2021
The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission is going ahead with plans to review power tariffs in July this year despite widespread resentments by the organised labour, consumer groups and other individuals.
NERC had announced on April 26, 2021 that another tariff review for Nigeria’s 11 power distribution companies would hold in July, explaining that inflation, gas price, among others, had changed.
It disclosed this in its notice of Minor and Extraordinary Review of Tariffs for Electricity Transmission and Distribution Companies, a development that might lead to a rise in the tariffs payable by electricity users.
But on April 30, the Minister of Power, Sale Mamman, dismissed concerns of a major hike in electricity tariffs, as he clarified that there was no plan to significantly raise tariffs.