The Niger Delta Power Holding Company Ltd (NDPHC) on Monday inaugurated a 600 Mega Volte Ambient (MVA) transformer in Oke Aro, a boundary town between Ogun and Lagos State.

Mr James Olotu, its managing director, said at the inauguration ceremony in Lagos that the project was currently the biggest transmission substation in the country.

Olotu, whose NDPHC is the owner of the National Integrated Power Projects (NIPP), said that the 600 MVA transformer had capacity to distribute 480 mega watts of electricity.

He said that the transformer would serve some part of its host states.

According to him, about a thousand NIPP projects will hopefully be completed in December.

``This transformer will serve Maryland, Ikeja West and even Akoka and Ijora, amongst other localities.

``This project is the biggest transformer system and the first of its kind in Nigeria. ``

He said that power supply would improve in Lagos and Ogun States with the inauguration of this transformer.

Olotu advised contractors handling the NIPP projects to live up to expectation so as to deliver on their mandate. (NAN)

Efforts to strengthen and expand Nigeria’s weak electricity transmission network would be buoyed by the federal government this year with a total bailout package of N40.6 billion, the Minister of Power, Prof. Chinedu Nebo, has said.

Nebo, who disclosed this at the weekend in Abuja, said government had initiated and obtained several bailout funds from sources that include international finance institutions to support maintenance and expansion efforts in the country’s transmission network by the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) which had been adjudged bankrupt.

He stated that part of these bailout funds include a two-phased $150 million loan facility from the African Development Bank (AfDB) for maintenance and expansion of the transmission network, adding that other sources of funding were simultaneously being explored by the government.

Nebo who spoke about government’s long-term plan for the TCN, which was currently under a three-year management contract by Canadian firm, Manitoba Hydro International (MHI), admitted that the government was conscious of the deep weaknesses in the country’s transmission network, hence the various measures to remedy the situation.

“I think we need to look at it from not just that perspective because there is no doubt that cumulative decay and neglect brought together a system that is essentially very near to collapse but this has been strengthened and the government is working very hard to ensure that this is the case.

“For instance, the entire $100 million facility from the African Development Bank (AfDB) which is N15.6 billion is going into transmission without one kobo off and so I don’t think it is totally right to say that TCN is totally insolvent and neglected.

“The government realises that all these years of neglect have led to a situation where transmission which is actually supposed to be the pride of the entire sector have become the weakest link, and it is working in that direction and very soon with these interventions from government by acquiring this facility from the AfDB, we are putting all the money into transmission.
“That is not all, a lot more money is coming in and will be going into transmission too and within this year, we are not talking about something that is still far-fetched.

“Government is working hard and yes, you are right to say that it is the weakest and yet the strongest, it is supposed to be the strongest because no matter what you generate, if it is not evacuated or wheeled out to distribution companies, then of course there will be no electricity to the consumers, transmission ought to be the real giant of the entire value chain and government is still holding on it to ensure that the infrastructure is developed buoyantly enough and maybe in the future, one would also think about privatisation.”

Speaking further on the bailout plan for TCN this year, especially in the light of Manitoba’s evaluation of the finances of the company, Nebo said: “In addition to that facility, there is a huge budget which is larger than that, dedicated just to transmission alone and so a significant amount of money will be coming into the system not just to strengthen but expand the transmission network and we are working on that.

“I will say that another N25 billion will be put into transmission from the government budget this year and when you add it to the N15.6 billion and other funds that we are trying to gather to strengthen the transmission network because unless that is strengthened, we are going to have problems because if you are attracting companies to generate power and you are not wheeling this power out to distribution company, you will be losing a lot of money.”

He also gave details of the AfDB loan, saying: “It is a loan and it is $150 million, we have received $100 million and it is kept with the Accountant General of the Federation. It is all going into transmission and as we access and operate this, another $50 million will be released by the AfDB. So, we are talking of a very huge amount of money that will be invested in the transmission network alone within this year.”

berem: The time has not Come for me to jubilate. I will do that when i have 24hours electricity in my house.

oshyno: ^^^^^
What r u supposed to jubilate about, Boko Haram bombing ?
Smh.

The World Bank has provided its first Partial Risk Guarantee of $145m to support Nigeria’s gas sector to bring more electricity to consumers.

The PRG agreements in support of a Gas Supply and Aggregation Agreement were signed on Monday between the bank and the Power Holding Company of Nigeria, Egbin Power Plc, Chevron Nigeria Limited and Deutsche Bank.

Under the 10-year GSAA, which is based on the industry template developed by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, Chevron will provide gas to Egbin power plant for power generation.

This will be the first time that Egbin power plant will be able to procure gas under long-term arrangements.

The World Bank Country Director for Nigeria, Francoise Marie-Nelly, said, “With over 75 per cent of Nigeria’s power generation depending on natural gas, assuring the availability and reliability of gas supply is a critical step in realising the goal of uninterrupted electricity supply to Nigerian consumers.”

He said the World Bank’s PRG, provided under the IDA-financed Nigeria Electricity and Gas Improvement Project, was key to enabling long-term gas supply.

The World Bank official explained that PRGs were used to cover private lenders against the risk of a public entity failing to perform its payment or contractual obligations.

Marie-Nelly added that the NEGIP PRG was instrumental to achieving financial closure of the Egbin GSAA transaction by providing payment security for Chevron for the supply of gas to the plant.

He noted that the payment security instrument used was a 10-year Letter of Credit issued by Deutsche Bank.

According to him, the absence of long-term gas supply arrangements has been one of the main causes of power outages in the country, as gas has to be procured on a “best endeavour” basis.

The gas, he stressed, was often of low quality and insufficient quantity, resulting in poor performance of power plants.

The World Bank stated that the long-term contracts enabled by the PRG would also help to encourage investments in upstream gas production by international and domestic oil and gas companies.

The Manager, Financial Solutions Unit, World Bank, Pankaj Gupta, said, “The use of the Partial Risk Guarantee to support Nigeria’s Gas Supply and Aggregation Agreement has provided the level of comfort needed by investors and paved the way for a new commercial framework for gas contracts.

“This will help to catalyse long-term private investments in Nigeria’s gas sector and underpin future investments in the power sector.”

He said that under the NEGIP, the World Bank had committed to a series of PRGs a total of $400m, of which the one for Egbin was the first to be signed.

Gupta said subsequent PRGs would support other gas supply agreements to PHCN plants and Niger Delta Power Holding Company of Nigeria’s plants.

President Goodluck Jonathan signed deals on Monday handing over state electricity assets to 15 bidding companies, a milestone in a privatisation process meant to end decades of power blackouts.

The handover in a ceremony at the presidential residence came a month after the bidders for 10 generation companies and five distribution companies paid deposits of 25 percent of the value of their bids.

The Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) is being broken up into 15 firms handling generation or distribution in different parts of the country; with the aim of doing something no Nigerian president has managed for decades: switching the lights on.

Despite being Africa’s top energy producer with the world’s seventh largest gas reserves, Nigeria produces and distributes only enough power for a few hours a day in the places that get it at all.

Economists say power outages cost Nigeria billions of dollars on imported diesel for generators and in lost output. They say current GDP growth of around 7 percent could be pushed into double figures if electricity supply could be sorted out.

Power output is currently about 4,000 megawatts for a country of 170 million people.

“Today’s event signals a major step forward in the implementation of our power sector road map,” President Jonathan said. “I congratulate the signing parties for reaching this significant target in our collective efforts to revitalize this sector, which is so important to our lives and development.”

Previous state sell-offs in Nigeria were blighted by political infighting and graft, which have caused years of delays. Regulators say this process was more transparent. Although it has appeared to favour established Nigerian oligarchs, some of them with scant experience of operating power companies, most have teamed up with capable technical partners like Siemens.

World Bank officials also signed a credit risk guarantee on a loan from Deutsche Bank’s U.S. subsidiary to finance gas supplies to the 1,320 megawatt Egbin Power Plant, which is based outside Nigeria’s commercial-hub Lagos, and of which Korea’s KEPCO was offered a 70 percent stake this month

Rossikk:

You need a brain transplant.

berem: Am i suppose to be jubilating over this? this is no news abeg. yawns!

otokx: There is total darkness at UNIPORT, light comes 1 day for 4 hours and the next 10 days its darkness. Once you see light expect the bills then next thing is darkness.

suniblu: .

Sincere 9gerian: One irredemable fool called the commissioning of 600MVA power Transmission Sub-station "paper achievement". This is a pointer to the mindset of ACN/CPC e-cockroaches.

@Op.,great news. The YEAR OF HARVEST is living up to expectation. So far, so good.

nig2change: I always tell people there is a way an intellect works, sure and steady. Smooth process devoid of rancour. No noise no loud speakers attach. By december 2014 everybody must appreciate GEJ. But he should be tougher with terrorists.