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Debtors owe NDPHC N190b

The debt owed the Niger Delta Power Holding Company (NDPHC) as at May 31st for a period of ten years has hit close to N190billion, its Managing Director, Chiedu Ugbo has said.

Ugbo who disclosed this during a press briefing in Lagos, said those who owe the company included Nigeria Bulk Electricity Trading Company (NBET), while some debts are in the name of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), maintaining that the debts did not affect the company’s drive for Light up Nigeria project.

He however expressed the confidence the government will help NBET to pay, and the necessary parties, adding of course more will be accumulated because of the cash flow, and the liquidity prices in the sector. However the regulator is working to resolving all that and it’s believed that sooner than later this will be resolved completely, the managing director stated.              

Speaking at the event attended by the Executive Director (ED), Generation, Engineer Abdullahi Kassim, ED Networks, Engineer Ifeoluwa Oyedele, and ED, Legal Services, Dr. Steven Andzenge, Ugbo added that the company is also indebted to other entities in the value chain including the gas producers.

Stating that the Light UP project of the company is waxing stronger, the Managing Director said; “We have started with Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company (IBEDC) to supply Ota Industrial Clusters”, while  many other projects are also on with other DisCos.

Fielding questions from Platforms Africa at the event, Chiedu stated that the sale of 10 Inregrated Power Plants (NIPPs) was embargoed because the owners of the business are yet to take a decision to sell.

“The owners of the business have not come up with a decision to sell. We at the NDPHC are just care-takers. We will act based on any decision taken by the owners of the business, which are the Federal Government, and the states governments,” he said.

Ugb said to reasonably resolve the challenges to power plants’ operations and increase electricity supply to homes and businesses, NDPHC’s Light-up Nigeria initiative was to explore not only the opportunities under the Eligible Customer Regulations and Electricity Act 2023, but also bilateral power sales in collaboration with DisCos and other bulk purchasers under trading arrangements that will ensure that investment is mobilized for end-to-end solutions that will guarantee that electricity is delivered to customers and NDPHC is paid for the electricity generated.

These challenges according him include Transmission Constraints, Gas Supply and Transportation Constraints,  Low Invoice Payment for Energy Generated to the Grid, Risks Mis-match, and Macro-Economic challenges huge impact on USD denominated costs – increasing costs of gas and spares,

The Managing Director said the core of NDPHC’s initiatives is to prioritise high-value power sale opportunities with bulk purchasers and Discos, which under the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry (NESI) have significant power supply demands across their franchise areas.

He said the rationale for this approach was that projects delivered in collaboration with these potential bulk purchasers were likely to generate significantly greater volumes of power sales under bankable arrangements. These arrangements also aid industry evolution towards bilateral contracting for bulk power sales.