The Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) has pre-qualified 16 companies for the privatization of five National Integrated Power Projects (NIPPs).
The Director-General (D-G) of the bureau, Mr. Alex Okoh, in a statement, identified the five NIPPs, as those located at Geregu, Ajaokuta, Kogi State; Omotosho, in Ondo State; Olorunsogo, Ogun State; Calabar, Cross River State; and Benin-Ihovbor, Edo State.
The 16 pre-qualified bidders were: Mota-Engil Nig, Amperion Power, Sifax Energy, Pacific Energy Company Ltd and Globeleq Africa Limited.
The rest were: 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 remained a viable investment in the country, given the low per-capital Megawatts recording Nigeria.
He added that the interest shown by bidders and the opening up of the generation aspect of the power sector confirmed the vast opportunities abound in the sector and that the bureau 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 prequalified bidders with regards to the transactions and provide clarity on some issues in the Transaction Documents as may be necessary.
He also said that the Nigerian power sector provided a platform for potential investors to understand the process for the privatisation of the NIPP power plants, as well as, to enable them adequately to prepare their bid documents.
According to the D-G, the federal government’s reform of the power sector was aimed at ensuring that “assets within the sector were fully utilized 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 potentials buyers of some of the plants which have litigation issues, saying 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 National Council on Privatisation (NCP) in April 2021 approved the adoption of a fast-track strategy for the privatisation of the five NIPP Plants:
CPCS Consortium would act Technical Adviser (TA) for the 100% sale of the 5 NIPP Plants, in line with the policy of divesting government shares from thermal generating plants.
