Power: FG hands over to new investors today •Targets 20,000 megawatts by 2016

Federal Government has set a target of 20,000 megawatts of electricity in the next three years as it hands over 15 privatised assets of the unbundled Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) to their new owners today.
The utilities  to  be handed over to the core investors  comprised five electricity generation companies (GENCOs) and 10 electricity distribution companies (DISCOs).
Speaking at  a forum on “Financing the Power Sector Reforms for Economic Development”  at the weekend in Abuja, the Vice President, Architect Namadi Sambo, said that  the 15 privatised assets of the PHCN would be handed over  to their preferred bidders, having fulfilled all  mecessary payment obligations.
According to the vice president,  “at the inception of the privatisation programme, a total of 25 GENCOs and 54 DISCOs sent in bids, and after a rigorous bidding process, five bidders for the GENCOs and 10 bidders for DISCOs were successful“.
He stated that the relevant government agencies had since, February 2013, signed the transaction document while the successful  bidders had also paid their bid sums in two installments of 25 per cent and 75 per cent by the end of August, 2013.
The vice president said with the full payment of their 75 per cent amount, the stage was now set for the formal handing over of the GENCOs and DISCOs   today ( Monday).
He said the Federal Government was emboldened to perform the handover ceremony today because of the fact that all labour related issues were concluded on Friday.
Sambo said: “The Federal Government reached an agreement with labour unions on December 12, 2012. The agreement reached is being implemented and payment of severance pensions and gratuities of all the 47,913 workers of the PHCH were planned to be completed  Friday.
The vice president also disclosed that the Federal Government , through NNPC, Nigeria Gas Company and private sector, were implementing a robust programme for the realisation of the Nigeria Gas Masterplan, with a specific interest in meeting the gas to power demand in the country  at an estimated  cost of about $8 billion.
Already, $500 million, out of the $1 billion Euro Bond, was utilised as counterpart funding for the implementation of the project. This is another opportunity for our bankers to participate” he said.
With the planned handover, the vice president said the Federal Government was also presently implementing an extensive programme for the upgrading and expansion of the country’s power transmission capacity, with a forecast transmission of up to 10,000 MW before the end of 2014 and 20,000MW by 2016.
“The total funding for this project is estimated by TCN to cost about $3.7 billion, and I am pleased to inform you that funding for this project has already been arranged. $1.6 billion is coming from seed proceed of the 10 new power plants of NIPP and NDPHC; $500 million from a bank and the balance from the African Development Bank, Islamic Development Bank as well as the local banks. “ he stressed.
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