Fashola: Presidential Villa to Procure Electricity Directly from Genco

• FG approves concessioning of 5 hydro plants

By Chineme Okafor in Abuja

The Aso Rock Presidential Villa which is the official residence of Nigeria’s presidents has signed up to procure its electricity directly from a power generation company (Genco) instead of through a distribution company (Disco), Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Fashola has said.

According to Fashola, in a statement from his office, the villa has opted to sign up to the eligible consumers’ framework of the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC).

The eligible consumers’ regulation allows for consumers who use large volumes of electricity to procure their supply directly from a supplier, usually a Genco, with contractual agreements reached.

The statement which was signed by Fashola’s Senior Special Adviser on Communications, Mr. Hakeem Bello, also explained that the federal government has approved the concession of five small hydro power stations to private operators to run.

It noted that the developments followed the approval of a memo on the subjects by Fashola at the weekly Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting, adding that they were in line with the government’s desire to improve electricity supply and distribution in the country.

“Chief among the approvals, received over the last two FEC meetings from memos presented by the Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Fashola SAN, is the Aso Rock Villa, the official residence of the president, which will benefit from the federal government’s eligible customer policy as the council approved a distribution expansion programme to off-take part of the stranded 2,000MW to provide dedicated power to the villa,” said the statement.

It indicated that the power ministry had earlier obtained approval from the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP) to procure civil works that would facilitate uninterrupted power supply to the presidential villa, and that the project would be completed by Messrs Dextron Engineering Limited within six months.

According to the statement, a power supply plan has been initiated with North-South Power Company Limited, operators of the Shiroro hydro Genco, to procure the dedicated supply to the villa.

Also approved alongside the villa project, the statement noted, was the final payment for the completion of the Afam 240MW fast power project in Rivers State; the construction of a dedicated solar power system for the ministry of power, works and housing headquarters in Mabushi; as well as the concession of the hydropower dams to facilitate electricity supply to rural and agrarian communities across the country.

It said the approval of the final payment for the completion of the Afam 240MW power plant sequel to a memorandum by the ministry seeking council’s approval for the award of contract for additional work at the 132kV switchyard for the evacuation of power from the plant.

For the hydro dams, it stated that the approval for their concession was based on the recommendation of the ministry and that of water resources, to allow private sector investors run them and improve power supply by a total of 16.49MW.

“The five small and medium hydro power plants to be concessioned include the 6MW Ikere Gorge Dam in Ekiti State to be concessioned to Messrs Power Control and Appliances Limited; the 2MW Omi-Kampe Dam in Kogi State, to be concessioned to Messrs Quaint Power and Infrastructure Nigeria Limited; the 300KW Zobe Dam; 4MW Jibiya Dam in Katsina State to be concessioned to Messrs Pan-African Global Infrastructure; and the 3MW Bakolori Dam in Zamfara State to be concessioned also to Messrs Pan-African Global Infrastructure,” added the statement.

The ministry, it further noted, has already concluded negotiations with the concessionaires and letters of notification have been issued to them to facilitate necessary action for early delivery of the project in compliance with regulatory procedures.

As for the solar project at the ministry’s headquarters, it said that 894 offices within the complex would have uninterrupted power supply when completed by Messrs EM-ONE Energy Solution.