Poor government regulation, it was learnt at the weekend, has stalled the take off of $600 million gas power project of Century Power Generation Limited in Okija, Anambra State.
The firm is a subsidiary of Nestoil Group, a local conglomerate, with interest in oil, gas and power, among others.
In a telephone interview, its Chief Executive Officer, Dr Chukwueloka Umeh, said only one out of the over 100 firms licensed by the Federal Government has moved to site, adding that the development was a reflection of poor regulation and disincentive in the industry.
According to him, poor regulation is stalling efforts by the firm to provide sufficient documents for the take-off of the plant.
Umeh said: “Century Power Generation Limited, is yet to sign Power Purchase Agreement (PPAs), despite the fact that the firm was approved by the government to generate electricity for the country.
“Besides is the inability of the firm to complete its papers for the project. These issues were, as a result of the lopsidedness in the planning and formulation of regulatory programmes in the sector.”
Regulations, Umeh said, have changed severally in areas such as pricing of electricity tarrifs and PPAs, among others, stressing that the issue is slowing down investments in electricity generation in Nigeria.
“Regulation on pricing of electricity has changed several times, ditto the operation of the Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading Company (NBET). This is affecting the issue of obtaining PPAs. Getting financiers to provide the needed funds for the implementation of Okija power plant would continue to be a mirage, if the PPAs are not in place,” he added.
He said the sector has been witnessing changes in regulatory frameworks, since the sector was deregulated, by the Federal Government.
He said issue of deregulation of the sector should be wholesome, not partial, if the government is really interested in improving generation and distribution of electricity in the country.
He said power generation companies (GenCos) would not be able to record growth if the Federal Government continues to fix the price of gas, which according to him, is a feedstock required to produce electricity.
The sector is witnessing systemic and operational problems, a development, which he said has affected generation, distribution and transmission across the country.
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