By Yange Ikyaa
Ardova Plc and 15 other companies have pre-qualified to Acquire power generating plants belonging to the Federal Government of Nigeria.
A total of 16 companies went through a bidding process and are now pre-qualified for the privatization of five of the country’s National Integrated Power Projects (NIPPs) located in different parts of the country, the Federal Government announced earlier in the month.
This announcement came at the Investor Pre-Bid Conference for the privatization of the five NIPP plants belonging to the Federal Government, which include Geregu, Omotosho, Olorunsogo, Calabar and Benin-Ihovbor.
The 16 pre-qualified bidders include Ardova Plc, 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, Central Electric and Utilities Ltd, North South Power Consortium and Quantum Megawatt Consortium.
The Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) in a statement issued by its Head of Public Communications, Ibeh Chidi, quoted the Agency’s Director-General, Alex Okoh, as saying “the power sector remained a viable investment in Nigeria given the low per-capita megawatts currently being recorded across the country, and that the interest shown by bidders and the opening up of the generation aspect of the power sector confirmed the vast opportunities that abound in the sector.”
Okoh also added that BPE and other relevant stakeholders were committed to making the sector sustainable. The BPE Boss said 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 could be necessary.
His words: “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.”
Okoh told the investors present at the conference that litigations against some of the plants were baseless and frivolous, as BPE 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 had many critical stakeholders in the power sector in attendance, including the National Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), NDPHC, and the Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading Limited (NBET).
In April 2021, the National Council on Privatization approved the adoption of a fast-track strategy for the privatization of the country’s five NIPP plants. The Council also approved the engagement of CPCS Consortium as the technical adviser for the 100 per cent sale of the five power plants, in line with the policy of divesting government shares from thermal generating plants.
The BPE subsequently placed advertisements in the national dailies, calling for expressions of interest from prospective investors for the sale of the five plants.
At the expiration of the deadline for the submission of bids, 36 bids were duly submitted from the prospective investors and the closure for the receipt of their expressions of interest was witnessed by representatives of the Department of State Security Services (DSS)and the Anti-Corruption and Transparency/Servicom Unit of the BPE.
