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Category: Energy

  • Privatization: FG gives Transcorp Power discharge certificate

    Transcorp Power Limited has received the Discharge Certificate from the Federal Government in Abuja.

    Nigerian Anchor reports that Transcorp Power Limited, a leading power generation company, located in Ughelli Delta State, is the first power generation company to fulfil all privatisation obligations.

    Transcorp Power Limited, with an installed capacity of 972 megawatts, was presented with a post-privatisation discharge certificate by the Federal Government, following fulfilment of all privatisation conditions.

    This development means that Transcorp Power will no longer be subjected to post-privatisation monitoring, and it is the first privatised power generation company to achieve this milestone since the power sector privatisation commenced in 2013.

    One of the key targets set for Transcorp is a minimum available capacity of 670 megawatts.

    The Discharge Certificate was presented at the meeting of the National Council of Privatisation (NCP) by the Vice President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, to Mr. Tony Elumelu, Group Chairman, Transnational Corporation Plc (Transcorp), owner of Transcorp Power.

    Osinbaho, who also doubles as the Chairman of NCP, commented on the ceremony.

    “Post privatisation monitoring is an important aspect of the Federal Government’s privatisation programme.

    “Transcorp Power has been able to ensure compliance and meet the expectations of post privatisation deliverables.

    “I commend Tony Elumelu and his Transcorp team for this feat. I urge Transcorp Group to continue in that path and even do better. This being the first, should not be the last post privatisation discharge event,” he said.

    Elumelu thanked the Federal Government for their trust and confidence in Transcorp.

    “In addition to fulfilling the post privatisation performance criteria, Transcorp has driven a strong indigenous agenda – our plants are managed and fully operated by Nigerians, creating jobs and reducing unemployment in the country.

    “Safety is very important to us as well, since we began operations in 2013, we have recorded zero incidents till date.

    Speaking at the Event, the Director General of the Bureau of Public Enterprises, Alex Okoh, congratulated the Board and Management of Transcorp for the milestones achieved in turning around the enterprise.

    He noted that Transcorp had met and exceeded the performance targets and all other covenanted obligations agreed during the signing of the privatisation agreement in 2013.

    “Transcorp Power increased the generation capacity of the plant by 227 per cent from the operational status as at handover in 2013.

    “Capital expenditure totalling N58.612 billion was covenanted for phase1, phase 2 as ‘additional investment’ but the actual investment made by Transcorp was the sum of N83.85bn, leading up to a score of 143 per cent,” he said.

    Transnational Corporation Plc acquired Ughelli Power Plc (now Transcorp Power Limited) from the Federal Government of Nigeria on November 1, 2013 when the power sector was privatised. At the time of acquisition, the plant had an available capacity of 160 megawatts. Transcorp invested and increased the available capacity to 680.83 megawatts (being a 227 per cent increase) within four years of takeover, surpassing the five-year target of 670 megawatts set by the Bureau for Public Enterprises (BPE).

  • N/Delta Oil Spill: UK’s Supreme Court rules in favour of Shell

    The United Kingdom Supreme Court on Wednesday ruled in favour of Shell, a British multinational oil and gas company, over a 2011 offshore oil spill.

    The apex court ruled that it was too late for Nigerian claimants to sue Shell subsidiaries over a 2011 offshore oil spill.

    The case was one of a series of legal battles Shell has been fighting in London courts against residents of Nigeria’s oil-producing Niger Delta, a region blighted by pollution, conflict and corruption related to the oil and gas industry, Reuters report.

    In December 2011, there were allegations that an estimated 40,000 barrels of crude oil leaked when a tanker was loaded at Shell’s Bonga oilfield, 120 kilometres off the coast of Nigeria’s Niger Delta.

    Shell disputed the allegations and said the Bonga spill was dispersed offshore and did not have adverse effects on the shoreline, according to Reuters.

    A group of 27,800 individuals and 457 communities have made several attempts to drag Shell to court, arguing that the resulting oil slick polluted their lands and waterways, destroying farming, fishing, drinking water, mangrove forests and religious shrines.

    But a panel of five Supreme Court justices unanimously upheld rulings by two lower courts that found they had brought their case after the expiry of a six-year legal deadline for taking action.

    The claimants’ lawyers had argued that the ongoing consequences of the pollution represented a “continuing nuisance”, a type of civil tort, which would have meant the deadline did not apply.

    “The Supreme Court rejects the claimants’ submission. There was no continuing nuisance in this case,” Justice Andrew Burrows said during the ruling.

    While it was two Nigerians that were appellants in the Supreme Court case, the verdict would be applicable to the thousands of other claimants, the report added.

    Shell said the Supreme Court ruling had brought to an end all legal claims in English courts related to the spill.

    “While the 2011 Bonga spill was highly regrettable, it was swiftly contained and cleaned up offshore,” a Shell spokesperson said.

  • Transcorp Power Gets FG’s nod as preferred bidder for AEDC

    The Federal Government has approved Transcorp Power as the preferred bidder for the Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC).

    This was even as a 240-megawatt turbine, Afam Three-Fast Power Plant, was unveiled.

    Speaking on Tuesday, at the commissioning of the Afam Three-Fast Power Plant in Oyigbo LGA, Rivers State, the Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, revealed that the approval was given by the National Council on Privatisation (NCP).

    He described the development as a significant breakthrough in the country’s power sector – an industry he said has been lacking private sector finance.

    “A major breakthrough of our privatisation process, which of course, as you know, started in 2005-2006, was and has been inadequate of private investments and real cash injections. 

    “From the time we started, an indigenous firm such as Transcorp Power and Heirs Holding have been making significant investments such as this 100 per cent acquisition of installed capacity Afam Power Plc and Afam Three-Fast Power Limited, jointly referred to as Afam GenCo. The acquisition cost, I am sure you have heard already, is N105.3 trillion.

    “Only yesterday (Monday), the National Council on Privatisation (NCP) formally delisted Transcorp Power Plc, formerly known as Ughelli Power Plc, from routine monitoring and evaluation by the BPE, indicating yet another successful power investment.

    “I can say the last few days belong to Transcorp Power because at the meeting of the National Council on Privatisation (NCP), the council approved Transcorp Power Consortium as the preferred bidder of the acquisition of the Abuja Distribution Company,” he said.

    Nigerian Anchor reports that the United Bank of Africa (UBA) took over the AEDC in December 2021, over the inability of its major stakeholder, Kann Consortium, to service the $122 million debt owed to the Bank.

    Kann Consortium had secured a loan from UBA to acquire AEDC in 2013, making it hold a 60 per cent stake in the DisCo.

    However, in April 2023, the bank said it would sell AEDC to recover the $122 million debt.

    Osinbajo also spoke of the Afam Three-Fast Power Plant.

    “In 2020, electricity subsidies reached N584 billion, but service-based tariffs have led to a doubling of collection in the Nigeria Electricity Supply Industry (NESI) from N40 billion in 2020 to N80 billion in the first quarter of 2023.

    “If this trajectory continues, the Nigeria Electricity Supply Industry will be able to pay for itself. Our administration has also created programmes for off-grid electrification. Rural Electrification Agency (REA) now has the capacity to provide electricity supply on a first-class basis.

    “We are on track to electrify all Nigerians in the next decade. However, we will not make progress if our gas supply does not improve. The gas supply challenges are hampering improvements,” Osinbajo said.

    The project, a subsidiary of the Transcorp Group, is located in Oyigbo, on the outskirts of Port Harcourt in Rivers State.