FG to assist power generation companies with N50bn
The Federal Government has earmarkedN50 billion to assist Generation Companies (GENCOs) to get value for power generated, the Director-General of Bureau for Public Enterprise, Benjamin Dikki, said in Abuja on Tuesday.
According to him, the fund is being provided in line with the commitment of the Federal Government to ensure stable and sufficient power supply in the country.
Dikki, wo was addressing journalists in Abuja, said that due to lack of infrastructure for the transmission and distribution of power, the GENCOs had been running on deficit as power generated was not accounted for.
He explained that before privatisation, there was no accountability for power generated and distributed by the various departments.
Dikki further said that government realised that the new private GENCOs needed to collect payment for every megawatt of power generated so that the companies could have more reasons to continue generating power.
'So to ensure that those who generate power are not hindered from doing so because they were not able to collect the revenues that are due to them as a result of power generated, a mechanism has to be put in place to guarantee that whatever power they generate, they will get paid,' he said.
He, therefore, said that the government had set up an escrow account worth N50 billion to provide some guarantee for every megawatt of power generated.
In a related development, the Minister of Power, Professor Chinedu Nebo, has ordered the new management of Abuja Electricity Distribution Company to speed up the implementation of the target of ensuring uninterrupted power in the nation's capital.
Nebo, who was speaking on Tuesday at the commissioning of Two-type x 15MVA, which is one of the many National Integrated Power Project (NIPP) injection sub-stations built by the Niger Delta Power Holding Company across the country, charged the company to improve electricity supply in the FCT in both quality and quantity, after which the scheme will be replicated in other major cities across the country.
He, therefore, enjoined the new team to brace up to the challenges, by ensuring optimal use of old and new facilities to greatly improve the quality and quantum of electricity available to users in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
The minister said realising this project was part of a well- articulated action plan that would in the long-run banish darkness from Nigeria.
The chairman, Senate Committee on Power and Steel, Senator Philip Aduda, also commended the president for his giant strides in the power sector, adding that the new sub-station would greatly enhance evacuation of power to the various distribution networks in the FCT.
The Managing Director of Niger Delta Power Holding Company, Mr James Olotu, said the project was meant to strengthen the distribution end in the electricity value chain, as it would enhance customers' access to stable power.