Fashola urges power sector investors to play by rules

• New Kainji owners want full settlement from Bulk Trader
MINISTER of Power, Works and Housing, Babatunde Raji

Fashola

yesterday assured investors in the power sector of government support, even as he warned them to play by the rules.

Fashola spoke in Jebba yesterday at the handover of a unit of the Jebba Hydro Power Station repaired by the Japanese Government and Mainstream Energy Solutions Limited at the cost of N5.2 billion.

The Minister lamented that the six-unit power plant had not undergone maintenance since it was commissioned 30 years ago. The plant, he noted, was supposed to be serviced every six years.

“With this quantum of money Nigeria has, we should have many more plants like this instead of repairing old ones,” he noted.

This is coming as the operators of the concessioned Kainji Hydro ‎Power Plant and the Jebba Hydro Power Plant, Mainstream Energy Solutions Limited (MESL) called for 100 percent settlement of its monthly invoices.

Mainstream took over the management of the two plants in November 2013 under concession agreements with the Federal Government.
Managing Director/CEO of the company, Lamu Audu said at the handover ceremony, “We will like to plead with the Minister to consider the enormous funds required to keep power plants afloat and to direct the Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading Company (NBET) to facilitate full settlement of our monthly energy invoices rather than the current 40%-50% settlement.

The activation of our Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) will go a long way in this regard.”
Meanwhile, the government of Japan has concluded discussions with Nigeria for $800 million loan to repair and refurbish four of the six turbines at Nigeria’s Jebba Hydro Power Station.

Deputy Head of Mission at the Embassy of Japan, Masaya Otsuka, who spoke when his home government handed over a turbine it overhauled at the Jebba station yesterday, said the loan would be for a term of 30 years at 1 per cent interest rate.
The repair work is expected to extend the life of the turbine by at least 30 years.
A bilateral agreement is expected to be signed with the Federal Government soon to herald the take off of the loan.