BPE Pre-qualifies 16 Firms for Privatisation of Five Power Assets

Ndubuisi Francis

The Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) has pre-qualified 16 firms for the privatisation of five National Integrated Power Projects (NIPPs) in the country.

The BPE Director General, Mr. Alex Okoh who announced this in Abuja, at the Investor Pre-bid Conference for the privatisation of the five plants, listed the plants as Geregu, Omotosho, Olorunsogo, Calabar and Benin-Ihovbor. He also gave the names of the 16 pre-qualified bidding firms
The pre-qualified bidders included Mota-Engil Nig, Amperion Power, Sifax Energy, Pacific Energy Company Ltd., and Globeleq Africa Limited.

Others are Geoplex Drillteq Limited, Asfalizo Acquisition Ltd, Launderhill PJB, Lauderhill Tata, Unicorn Power Genco Ltd, Connaught Energy Services Ltd, ENL Consortium Ltd, Ardova Plc, Central Electric and Utilities Ltd, North South Power Consortium and Quantum Megawatt Consortium.
Okoh noted that the power sector remains a viable investment in the country given its low per-capita megawatts.

A statement issued by the privatisation agency stated that Okoh added that the interest shown by bidders and the opening up of the generation aspect of the power sector confirmed that vast opportunities were abound in the sector and that the BPE and other relevant stakeholders were committed to making the sector very sustainable.

Okoh revealed that the objectives of the pre-bid conference were to address possible questions from the pre-qualified bidders with regards to the transactions and provide clarity on some issues in the transaction documents as may be necessary.

He also said the forum would also highlight the potential in the Nigerian power sector and provide a platform for potential investors to understand the process for the privatisation of the NIPPs as well as to enable them to adequately prepare their bid documents.

Okoh said: “This event is a continuation of the federal government’s reform of the power sector with the aim of ensuring that assets within the sector are fully utilised and transformed into world class facilities, through the injection of private sector capital and deployment of more efficient and technical capacity.”
He allayed the fears of potential buyers of some of the plants which have litigation issues, explaining that such litigations were baseless and frivolous as the Bureau and the Niger Delta Power Holding Company (NDPHC) were empowered by the bids’ provisions under NIPPs’ transaction to terminate bids that violated the ground rules.

The event attracted critical stakeholders in the power sector including the National Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), Niger Delta Power Holding Company (NDPHC) and Nigerian Bulk Trading Company (NBET).

The National Council on Privatisation (NCP) had in April 2021 approved the adoption of a fast-track strategy for the privatisation of the five NIPPs.
It had also approved the engagement of CPCS Consortium as the Technical Adviser (TA) for the 100 per cent sale of the five NIPPs, in line with the policy of divesting government shares from thermal generating plants.

Subsequently, the Bureau advertised in three national dailies, calling for Expressions of Interest (EOI) from prospective investors for the sale of the five plants, with a submission deadline of June 30, 2021.

At the expiration of the deadline for the submission of 36 EOIs were duly submitted from the prospective investors and the closure for the receipt of the EOIs was witnessed by the representatives of the Department of State Security Services (DSS), Anti-corruption and Transparency/Servicom Unit (ACTSU) of the BPE.