Forty-one
firms are currently bidding to supply embedded power to Eko Electricity
Distribution Company (Disco), including Aggreko, one of the world’s leaders in
the field, energy sources tell BusinessDay.
Eko
Disco had earlier in a statement on its website, invited firms to bid for
embedded power generation.
“EKEDC
wishes to contract Embedded Generators to supply capacity and energy directly
connected to its distribution network at 11kV and 33kV levels (“Embedded
Generation”) to improve quality of supply to customers. Total capacity required
in 2014 is approximately 500MW,” the statement said.
Embedded
generation is the term used for any electricity generating plant that is
connected to the regional electricity distribution networks.
Eko
Disco has the capacity to
distribute 700 MW, but currently gets only a maximum
of 240 MW from the grid, since the private sector owners took over about seven
months ago, Charles Momoh, chairman of West Power & Gas, the private
company which acquired Eko Disco, said at a recent conference.
“We
have started the process of trying to improve power generation to Lagos by
doing embedded generation of power,” Momoh said then.
“We
have identified companies we would like to work with and the longer term plan
is to bring in 500 MW into our local grid for distribution.”
Nigeria
completed the first phase of an ambitious privatisation programme last
November, through the sale of 18 companies unbundled from the former Power
Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) comprising of six Generation Companies
(GENCO’s), 11 Distribution Companies (DISCOs), and a Transmission Company
(TCN).
The
new private companies have however had to deal with non-availability for power
plants and vandalisation of gas pipelines, leading to a continuation of the
rolling blackouts that were the norm pre-privatisation, for homes and
businesses.
Lagos
is estimated to need up to 20,000 MW of electricity for its 20 million people,
but only an average of 1,000 MW is delivered to the state from the national
grid.
If
Eko Disco is successful in it’s embedded generation plans, it means power
supply to the Lagos area will increase by 50 percent.
According
to Eko Disco, prospective Embedded Generators will sell power to EKEDC (the
off-taker), while EKEDC will use the distribution network and/or dedicated
feeders to deliver high power to its customers.
Aggreko,
the world’s largest provider of mobile power supplies, provides specialist
power and temperature control rental services. The group employs over 6,000
people operating from 202 locations.
The
company served customers in about 100 countries in 2013 and had revenues of
approximately $2.5 billion.
The
Discos – which are closest to consumers – are at the end of a complex chain of
players in the power sector which include the gas suppliers, IPPs/ Gencos, the
bulk trader (NBET), and TCN.
The
new private owners of power assets are struggling to meet capital expenditure
pledges, as issues ranging from unavailability of gas for power turbines, need
for market reflective tariffs and power cheats from bypassed meters and unpaid
bills crimp revenues.
West
Power & Gas Limited (WPG), which paid $135 million to acquire the assets of
Eko Disco, said last year that it had allocated $250 million for the
rehabilitation of the Disco.
However,
ongoing blackouts in most parts of Lagos show that such capex spend promises
have yet to materialise.
Firms
bidding to supply embedded power to Eko Disco need to indicate whether they are
a captive generator and wish to sell excess power from existing/expanded plant,
are an existing embedded plant wishing to sell excess power from
existing/expanded plant or, wish to develop a green-field project to sell power
to EKEDC, according to Eko Disco.
BusinessDay
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