New Deadline for B Warri Old Port Concessionaires

Fri, Jul 25, 2014
By publisher
6 MIN READ

Energy Briefs

THE National Council on Privatisation, NCP, has approved the extension of the closing date for the submission of expressions of interest in terminal B Warri Old Port by prospective investors from Tuesday, July 22, 2014 to Thursday, August 7, 2014.

In an advertisement to his effect, the federal government has requested that the prospective concessionaires must be experienced local or international operators who would be required to manage and operate the terminal for a minimum period of 25 years with the option of renewal.

The prospective concessionaire will also be required to invest in the construction of the stacking area, administrative block, warehouse and clinic, rehabilitation of existing facilities as well as undertake further developments in the terminal. The prospective concessionaires must also present verifiable evidence of successful investment and technical competence in maritime operations, with proven ability to operate a port terminal

Applicants must have a minimum of US$150 million tangible net worth and must have a minimum of 15 years’ experience in efficient operations of a multipurpose port terminal with recorded improvement of cargo turn-around time.

Other requirements are a statement of technical and operational capabilities, indicating manpower and number of years in maritime business operations with both local and international experience in port terminal operations specified and a letter of consent by professionals indicating to work/avail themselves in the capacities indicated as well as acceptable and verifiable evidence of availability of operational capital to meet the first two years of operations.

In the case of SPP/JV, evidence of a legally binding MOU with credible technical partners who must have a minimum of 25 percent equity stake in the SPV/JV. A detailed profile must be attached. The potential core investor must also provide letter a of authorisation for the Bureau of Public Enterprises, BPE, to conduct due diligence on the submission. The federal government also warned that failure to provide the above information in full would render an application invalid.

KEDC Acquires 100,000 Pre-Paid Meters

SAHELIAN Power SPV Limited, owners of Kano Electricity Distribution Company, KEDC, has injected over N500,000,000 in the company since taking over in November 2013. Jamil Gwamna, its managing director/ chief executive officer made the disclosure on Tuesday, July 22, when a post privatisation monitoring team from the Bureau of Public Enterprises, BPE, visited the DISCO in continuation of its monitoring of privatised power companies. Gwamna said his organisation was collecting data for calculations of ATC&C in order to establish the baseline losses for the company, customer mapping for metering, cost of service studies. He said that a stakeholders’ sensitization forum was organised in May, 2014 and that plans were in place to hold the second forum in August 2014.

Gwamna
Gwamna

Gwamna revealed that the company which covers three North-West States of Katsina, Kano and Jigawa has carried out infrastructural development projects in the areas of upgrade of Shuwarin S/S from 300KVA to 500KVA, 11/.415KV in March 2014; Radio House 200KVA, 11/.415KV S/S in March 2014; Ashton Road 300KVA, 11/.415KV Relief S/S in April 2014; upgrade of Ashton Road S/S from 300KVA to 500KVA, 11/.415KV in April 2014; procurement of operational vehicles; investments in IT in accounts and customer billing and establishment of NERC Forum offices for customer complaints in all its business units and was also undertaking a network upgrade and total renovation and furnishing of its headquarters.

He added that the company had registered and billed additional 19,969 customers since its takeover and was currently carrying out a daily broadcast of energy allocations from the national grid and how it was being distributed to different consumers within the business units. The CEO also said the company was in the process of acquiring 100,000 prepaid meters for supply to its customers.

In his remarks, Benjamin Dikki, director general, BPE, said the purpose of the visit was to ascertain the level of compliance by the core investor to the post-acquisition plan, given the value placed on the power sector reform by the Federal Government. This was to ensure that the obligations covenanted by Sahelian Power SPV Limited were being religiously carried out.

It would be recalled that the federal government, through the BPE, on November 1, 2013, handed over the Kano Electricity Distribution Company to Sahelian Power SPV Limited after the company’s payment of 100 percent of its bid amount of $135,630,000 and the subsequent handover of share certificates/license by President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan on September 30, 2013 in furtherance of the administration’s transformation agenda.

 

DISCOs on NERC’s Fixed Charge Order

OWNERS of the privatised electricity distribution companies in Nigeria have faulted the condition recently introduced by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, NERC, that they must not collect fixed charges from customers who do not get power supply for, at least, 15 days in a month. The NERC had, in April, announced that beginning from May 1, 2014, consumers who do not receive supply for, at least, 15 days either cumulatively or continuously should not pay the fixed charge for that month.

Amadi
Amadi

The directive by the commission was, however, contested by the Discos in Abuja on Tuesday, July 22, during a public hearing organised by the NERC on the  order to revise the payment of the fixed charge component of the Multi Year Tariff Order. Reuben Okoye, assistant general manager, regulatory affairs, Enugu Electricity Distribution Company, argued that the order was made without due consultation with the operators.

He said outages were not caused solely by the Discos, adding that some of the issues that necessitated power failures across the country were as a result of transmission and generation bottlenecks. Okoye said the penalty for outages should not be borne completely by the Discos but should be spread across the power value chain, and stressed that it was difficult to independently determine customers who experienced outages in a given period.

Ernest Orji, director, Eko Electricity Distribution Company, said the rule was difficult to implement as the Discos had yet to acquire statistical meters to determine such claims from consumers. “In our submission, we argue that there should be a new structure for service charge and not fixed charge so that a percentage of the supply is given as compensation to consumers or exempt them from paying the service charge for that period,” he said.

Abimbola Odubiyi of the Abuja Electricity Distribution Company argued that the order would encourage power consumers not to pay their bills. He urged the NERC to review the order so as to ensure the sustenance of the market’s financial progress, adding that the rule should be extended to the Transmission Company of Nigeria, the power generation companies and gas suppliers in the case of similar defaults.

Compiled by Anayo Ezugwu

— Aug. 4, 2014 @ 01:00 GMT

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