He said the federal government, through the Office of Public Enterprises, is negotiating to sell five power plants worth $1.15 billion under the National Integrated Energy Projects. As we learned on Tuesday.
Sources close to the project said the value of the assets would exceed $5 billion worldwide, but revealed that BPE plans to sell the assets for more than $1.1 billion.
BPE Acting Director General Ignatius Iovo told our correspondent in a brief telephone interview that "the deal is still ongoing" adding that "it is not yet complete".
The president of BPE did not reveal the value of the five factories, saying that he was in a quick meeting and could not give more details.
However, impeccable sources in the office mentioned five power plants, including the 434MW gas-fired power plant at Koji. the 451 MW Omotosho 2 power plant in Ondo; and the 750 MW Olorunshogo II Power Plant in Ogun State.
Other projects include the 563MW Odukpami Power Plant in Calabar, Cross River State; and the 451 MW Benin-Ihofbor Power Station in Edo State.
The Omotosho Power Plant, which consists of four power turbines, is expected to sell for US$85 million. The Orolsogo NIPP, equipped with four turbines, cost $170 million.
The cost of the Benin-Ehoffboer power plant, which has five turbines to generate electricity, is $420 million. The five-turbine Calabar Odukpami power plant will cost approximately $260 million. Meanwhile, the four-turbine Girijo power plant will cost $215 million.
"These are Siemens turbines and they can generate 115 megawatts of electricity each," said one of the sources, who asked not to be named due to the lack of permits.
The official explained that the construction of a factory capable of generating 1 megawatt of electricity costs about 1 million dollars, and he pointed out that the five power plants of NPP cost more than 5 billion dollars when evaluated on this basis.
However, the cost of building a 1 megawatt power plant depends on many factors, including the type of power plant, location, technological development, etc.
However, the cost of building a 1MW power plant depends on different technologies and generally ranges from 1 million to 2 million dollars per megawatt solar power plant.
"For wind turbines, the cost ranges from $1.5 to $2.5 million per megawatt. For natural gas plants such as NIPPs, the cost ranges from $1 to $2 million per megawatt, while for coal plants, the cost ranges from $2 to $3 million," an industry insider explained. Watt.
In December 2022, The PUNCH reported that the federal government and 36 state governors finally agreed to sell five power plants under the National Integrated Energy Projects and use the proceeds for the 2023 budget.
After more than two years of disputes and legal battles over the sale of the NIPP power plant, which is managed by the Niger Delta Power Holding Company, the two sides reached an agreement in December.
NDPHC is a power generation and distribution company owned by federal, state and local governments that oversees the implementation of NIPPs.
In an interview in Abuja, the former Director General of the Bureau of Public Enterprises, Alex Okoh disclosed to journalists the agreement between the Federal Government and the states for the NIPP factories. However, different groups have disputed this finding.
Discussions and plans to sell NIPP have been underway at the Office of Public Enterprises for several years, with the specifics of the sale and the target amount growing over time.
In April 2021, the National Privatization Council approved the sale of five NIPP plants under an accelerated strategy. Estimates of these five factories are yet to be announced.
In March 2022, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NPC) has expressed interest in acquiring some NIPP sites, indicating further progress in sales.
In the year In December 2022, Okoh, a former BPE chairman, approved an agreement between the federal and state governments to sell five NIPPs.
It expects the sale to generate over 260 billion naira (about $600 million). However, many sources and civil society organizations have expressed concern that the money will have no impact on the growing budget deficit at the time.
According to the Acting Director General of BPE, the sale of NIPP has not been completed yet. The Niger Delta Power Holdings Company, which operates the NPP plants, has also not agreed to sell them.
At the same time, the cost of the NIPs has not been officially confirmed, but some sources indicate that the initial estimate for each NIP could reach between $300 million and $500 million.
