NIGERIANS IN DARKNESS BECAUSE WE ARE OWED N1.6 TRN SINCE 2013 - GENCOS

Power Generation Companies (Gencos) under the Association of Power Generation Companies (APGC) yesterday stated that the power supply situation in the country was worsening because they were owed over N16 trillion since 2013

ARGC's Executive Secretary, Dr. Joy Ogaji, in a briefing in Abuja, argued that a situation where the energy dispatched by the power generators was used as an index for power generation capacity was detrimental to their survival.

In the past couple of weeks, the already bad power supply situation in the country had worsened as players in the sector continued to trade blames as to whose table the buck stops.

"We are currently owed N1.644 trillion. One of the reasons that the power plants are down is due to the inefficient management of the grid," Ogaji said.

According to her, the Gencos have exhausted all their borrowing sources, as the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) had reportedly warned the banks to desist from kending 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 as 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."

But Ogaji stated admitted that at the moment, the Gencos were generating an average of 4,000MW.

However, the debt claim by the Gencos was immediately refuted by the Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading Company (NBET). NBET disputed the figures quated 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. According to her, 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.