Power Generation Companies says Power Situation Worsening Because We Are being Owed.
The Association of Power Generation Companies (APGC) has explained that the power supply situation in the country is worsening because they are being owed N1.644 trillion since 2013.
The group’s Executive Secretary, Joy Ogaji, in a briefing in Abuja on Sunday, said a situation where the energy dispatched by the power generators was used as an index for power generation capacity was detrimental to their survival, This Day reports.
She said, “We are currently owed N1.644 trillion. One of the reasons that the power plants are down is due to inefficient management of the grid.”
According to her, the Gencos have exhausted all their borrowing sources, as the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) warned the banks to desist from lending money to them.
She stated, “If you give us gas, provide forex to carry out maintenance. I have told you most of the units are down and they need money to fix them.
“Give us enough money to pay our gas suppliers because it is pre-payment. But for power, it is ‘take and pay later’. There is no way that this misalignment will help us.”
As of now, according to Ogaji, the Gencos were generating an average of 4,000MW.
However, the debt claim by the Gencos has been debunked by the Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading Company (NBET). NBET disputed the figures quoted by the power generators, saying only companies with active gas supply and transportation contracts are paid for unutilised capacity.
The Head, Corporate Communication, NBET, Henrietta Ighomrore, explained that in the country, only five power generation companies with active Gas Purchase Agreement (GPA) were entitled to be paid for unused capacity.
She said claims that the Gencos have the capacity to generate 9,000MW are not accurate, as inspections by NBET had shown that the so-called capacity does not exist.
She argued that the Gencos had always been paid as and when due, explaining that in the last payment cycle alone, the Gencos were paid N38 billion for electricity distributed on the grid.
According to her, NBET has paid the Gencos over 90 per cent of their invoices. She noted that the company paid the generators almost immediately remittances from the Discos were received.
