Yola Disco, 2 Power Plants for Sale

The federal government will re-sell the Yola Electricity Distribution Company (Disco), which was returned to it in 2015 by a core investor because of the Boko Haram insurgency, and two additional gas-fired power generation plants.
This development is coming as the electricity distribution companies in the country under the aegis of the Association of Nigerian Electricity Distributors (ANED) have again described as false the claim by the Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, that the transmission capacity has increased from 5,000 Megawatts in 2015 to 7,124 MW in December 2017, representing a yearly increase of 1,062 MW in the transmission capacity.
The Discos also stated that adequate power supply will not be feasible until 2023 because of liquidity challenges facing the power sector.
It was gathered from a document sighted at the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) that the agency has received approval from the federal government through the National Council on Privatization (NCP) to re-sell the Yola Disco through a competitive bidding process to be managed by the BPE.
Also, up for sale are the 987.2 megawatts (MW)-capacity Afam power plant and the 240MW Afam Three Fast Power Limited (ATFPL), which the government initiated in 2016.
From the document, it was also learnt that the agency has invited core investors to express interest in acquiring the government’s 60 per cent shareholding in Yola Disco, and 100 per cent shareholding in the Afam Genco.
For Yola Disco, the BPE stated that it had as at December 31, 2017, supplied grid power to over 181,000 customers across four states, and has 3,454 sub-stations; nine transmission stations, 33 numbers of 33KV circuits covering 6,590 kilometers and 112 11KV circuits covering 1,385 kilometers.
BPE explained that its preference for bidders of the Disco would be the existing power distribution companies or core investor groups with power distribution companies as equity investors. The successful bidder, it explained, would be responsible for operating the Disco, make all necessary investments to improve the distribution network and customer service in line with the objectives of the government as set in the National Electric Power Policy 2001 (NEPP).
The BPE document indicated the pre-qualified bidders will be issued a Request for Proposal (RFP) and other bidding documents upon the payment of a non-refundable fee of $20,000 in bank draft payable to the bureau.
For Afam Power Plc and ATFPL, the document suggested they would be jointly privatised through competitive bidding.
On the capacity of Afam, the BPE explained that Afam Power Plc consists of Afam 1 to 5 with an original installed capacity of 987MW, while ATFPL consists of an initial installed capacity of 240MW comprising eight turbines of 30MW each supplied by General Electric.
“The plant was commissioned in five phases between 1962 and 2001. The station also has 132KV and 330KV switchyards that are owned and operated by the Transmission Company of Nigeria.
“Afam 1-5 used to house 20 Gas Turbines. At present Afam 1, 2, 3 are decommissioned while two units of Afam 4 (GT17and 18) are generating between 70 – 110MW, the remaining four units (GT 13-16) and the two units of Afam 5 (GT 19 and 20) can also be rehabilitated
“ATFPL is a large-scale pilot power project involving the optimization of power output in potential brown field sites through the use of trailer – mounted turbines utilizing gas or condensate as feedstock,” said the document.
It explained potential bidders would be responsible for operating the station, improving the generation capacity and making all necessary investments in line with the objectives of the NEPP.

Discos dispute Fashola’s claim on improvement in electricity supply.

As the federal government is shopping for investors to buy the Yola Disco, the remaining 10 electricity distribution companies in the country under the aegis of the Association of Nigerian Electricity Distributors (ANED) have again described as false the claim by the Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, that the transmission capacity has increased from 5,000 Megawatts in 2015 to 7,124 MW in December 2017, representing a yearly increase of 1,062MW in transmission capacity.
ANED’s Executive Director in charge of Research and Advocacy, Mr. Sunday Oduntan, told newsmen in Lagos that in the two historical generation peaks of 5,074 MW recorded in February 2, 2016 and 5,222 MW in December 18, 2017, the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) was able to transmit only 4,577 MW and 4,265 MW, respectively, stressing that TCN has never wheeled energy more than 4,265 MW.
“Further confirmation of the limitation of TCN is the 22 total systems collapse in 2016 and six partial systems collapses; 15 total systems collapse and nine partial meltdowns in 2017; and six times in the first eight days of 2018 alone,” he said.
Oduntan also described as misleading, the minister’s claim that power generation has improved from 4,000 MW in 2015 to 7,000 MW in 2018, insisting that a volume of generation slightly under 7,000 MW already or previously existed, prior to the beginning of the present administration. Thisday