Transcorp Nigeria has halted its plans to construct a world class power plant in Nigeria that would boost power supply in the country. Citing the prevailing economic recession and shortage in local gas, the company shelved its plans to raise funds for the power plant.
Transcorp had earlier in 2014 embarked on a $1 billion fund-raising project to enable it construct a gas power plant that would add 1000 megawatts of power to the national grid. However, Bloomberg reports that Transcorp Power CEO Adeoye Fadeyibi cited the constant attack on gas pipelines as making it impossible for existing power plants to reach full capacity, not to talk of building new ones.
Transcorp Power, who acquired the Ughelli power plant, lamented that the plant at present is producing only 50% of its installed capacity due to gas shortage. In addition, the company said that the economic downturn in the Nigerian economy further hindered the fund raising drive.
This is cause for concern as it comes against the backdrop of an earlier warning by the Electricity Generation Companies in Nigeria of an impending shutdown if the Government did not take rapid measures to settle the debt owed them and to make foreign exchange available.
All hope is not lost however, as Adeoye Fadeyibi confirmed that the company was considering possible power generation alternatives such as solar energy which would mitigate the problem posed by the current gas shortage.