Energy
Senate says agreement with Azura power plant is a drain on nation’s resources
The recommendations were presented by Chairman of the Committee, Sen. Gabriel Suswam during plenary.
The Senate has described the Share Purchase Agreement (SPA) between the Federal Government and Azura Power Plant as a drain on the nation’s resources.
The lawmakers called for a review of the SPA on Wednesday after the committee on power made the recommendation, according to News Agency of Nigeria.
The recommendations were presented by Chairman of the Committee, Sen. Gabriel Suswam during plenary.
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Suswam, who said that the agreement between the Federal Government and Azura power plant was signed between 2016 and 2017, explained that government ordinarily shouldn’t have signed those agreements.
What it means: The agreement, according to the lawmaker, means that the nation must pay for any amount the plant claim to generate and it does not matter if they are consumed or not.
He said, “What we signed is that we signed that even if we are unable to take that 450 megawatts we still pay full price for 450MW. You call those agreements take or pay.”
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Other recommendations Suswam said include the need to revisit tariffs that had been set in the 2016 to 2018 Minor Review of the Multi Year Tarrif order (MYTO) 2015 and Minimum Remittance Order for the year 2019.
This, he said was to clearly determine if N600 billion Payment Assurance Guarantee (PAG) being processed for disbursement would be sufficient to cover the tariff shortfalls that would arise if retail tariffs did not rise as envisaged.
“The gap between reality of Distribution Companies (Discos) and National Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) projections needed to be streamlined.
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” This is on account of the fact that Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) including Federal, State and Local governments had not paid their legacy debts (2015-2018) or the current bills going forward in 2019.
“There should be an immediate removal of the increased custom duties of 35% to allow Metre Asset Provider (MAP) clear meters stuck at the port,” he added.
In his remarks, President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan said that the report by the committee was so important.
“The power sector is the way for Nigeria to industrialise; in fact even to reduce the level of insecurity in the country by providing opportunities for wealth creation and jobs.
”We will continue to insist that the power sector performs better than what it is and this privatisation definitely has not been working for Nigeria and we need to look into it again.”
Energy
FG says vehicle owners to pay N250,000 to convert from petrol to autogas
FG says owners in the country will have to pay N250,000 to have their cars converted to autogas from petrol.
The Federal Government has revealed that vehicle owners in the country will have to pay N250,000 to have their cars converted to autogas from petrol.
This disclosure was made on Wednesday, December 2, 2020, by the Technical Adviser on Gas Business and Policy Implementation to Minister of State for Petroleum, Justice Derefaka, while on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily, which was monitored by Nairametrics.
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While stating that the conversion of vehicles from petrol to autogas will take at least 7 hours at the various conversion centres, Derefaka also pointed out that vehicle owners will have different payment plans to perform the conversion.
What they are saying
Derefaka, who is also the Programme Manager, Nigerian Gas Flare Commercialization Project, said:
“The cost varies. So, in terms of cost implication, it depends on the cylinder of the vehicle and of course, for a typical SUV cylinder, it is a bit higher. On the average, it is around N200,000 to N250,000 and this is for a four-cylinder vehicle, but it becomes a little bit higher for a six-cylinder SUV vehicle.”
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Nairametrics earlier reported that the Group Managing Director of Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Mele Kyari, disclosed that the corporation is going to provide free conversion services in some selected NNPC retail filling stations across the country.
Derefaka further explained that there will be different payment plans for making the conversion, adding that vehicle owners can have agreement with commercial banks to get the conversion done.
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He also said, “The owner of the car basically will decide to say I want to run on autogas or CNG or LNG and like the Honourable Minister had mentioned as well, conversion basically has different strands, you can partner with your bank and then the bank will now agree with the conversion centre to say ‘Convert this our customer’s car for free.’
“Not free in its entirety, but you now go and covert your vehicle. What happens is that the installer will put some form of mechanism, that each time you buy the gas; a certain amount will be deducted to pay for the conversion kits.”
While dismissing the notion amongst many Nigerians that the conversion fee is expensive, the ministerial aide noted that payment can be done within 5 to 7 months, in addition to saving up 45-50% cost associated with petrol.
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What you should know
- The Federal Government had on Tuesday launched the autogas scheme, called the National Gas Expansion Programme.
- The programme involves the conversion of fuel-powered cars and generators from petrol to gas, and is aimed at deepening domestic usage of natural gas in its various forms.
- The programme is also in line with the Federal Government’s plan to make gas the first choice source of cheaper and cleaner energy. This follows the deregulation of the downstream sector of the oil industry with sharp increases in prices of petrol.
- The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources said that the availability of Autogas as an alternative fuel option will afford Nigerians cheaper, cleaner and additional choice of fuel. Cheaper than the price of petrol and better for automobile and other engines.
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Energy
NNPC to provide free conversion services to motorists to switch from PMS to autogas
The NNPC has revealed plans to help motorists switch from Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) to Autogas.
The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has disclosed that it is going to provide free conversion services in some selected NNPC retail filling station in the country.
This is part of the effort of the corporation aimed at assisting interested motorists to switch from Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) popularly known as petrol to Autogas as the Federal Government rolls out an autogas programme called the National Gas Expansion Programme.
This was disclosed by the Group Managing Director of NNPC, Mele Kyari, on Tuesday, December 1, 2020, while delivering his address at the Presidential Virtual Rollout of the National Gas Expansion Programme (NGEP).
While delivering his address, Kyari pointed out that the areas of focus with existing Autogas service stations include the Federal Capital Territory Abuja, Kaduna, Kano, Kogi, Kwara, Ogun, Ondo, Oyo, Lagos, Edo, Delta, Rivers and Bayelsa States.
The statement from Kyari partly reads, ‘’To support this effort, NNPC is providing free conversion services in some selected NNPC retail filling stations to assist interested motorists switch from PMS to Autogas, especially in areas with existing Autogas service stations in the Federal Capital Territory Abuja, Kaduna, Kano, Kogi, Kwara, Ogun, Ondo, Oyo, Lagos, Edo, Delta, Rivers and Bayelsa States.’’
The NNPC boss revealed that the state-owned oil corporation is expanding this initiative to all NNPC retail filling stations across the country, while also assuring motorists of steady availability of Autogas at competitive prices.
He also said that NNPC is expanding its natural gas footprint across the country in order to support industrialization and job creation through its various ongoing gas infrastructure projects which includes Obiafu-Obrikom-Oben (OB3) gas pipeline project connecting East and West.
Others are Escravos-Lagos Pipeline System (ELPS 11 which is expected to boost supply to the western corridor and the AKK gas pipeline that will supply gas to Abuja, Kaduna and Kano states.
What you should know
- President Muhammadu Buhari today performed the virtual rollout of autogas programme called the National Gas Expansion Programme. The programme, which involves the conversion of fuel-powered cars, generators from petrol to gas, is aimed at deepening domestic usage of natural gas in its various forms.
- The programme is also in line with the Federal Government’s plan to make gas the first choice source of cheaper and cleaner energy. This follows the deregulation of the downstream sector of the oil industry with sharp increases in prices of petrol.
GMD @NNPCgroup: "To support this effort, NNPC is providing free conversion services in some selected NNPC Retail Filling Stations to assist interested motorists switch from PMS to Autogas…#NGEP #NigeriaGoGas #YearOfGas
— NNPC Group (@NNPCgroup) December 1, 2020
Energy
Senate confirms 6 NERC commissioners, drops Chairman-nominee
Six nominees for the board of the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) have been confirmed as commissioners.
The Nigerian Senate has confirmed the nomination of six members for the board of the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) as commissioners.
The legislators also dropped, Prof. Akintunde Akinwande, the nominee for the Chairman position due to his absence from the screening.
This was disclosed by the senate committee on Power, Steel Development and Metallurgy on Tuesday.
The confirmed nominees are Sanusi Garba (North-West) as vice-chairman; with Nathan Rogers Shatti (North-East), Moses Arigu (North-Central), Dafe Akpedeye (South-South), Frank Okafor (South-East) and Musiliu Oseni (South-West).
The committee recommended that President Muhammadu Buhari present another nominee to replace Akinwande.
What you should know
President Buhari had asked the Senate to confirm Sanusi Garba as Executive Chairman of the Nigeria Electricity Regulatory Commission.
He also sought the Senate nod for the confirmation of Dr Musiliu Oseni as vice chairman; and Aisha Mahmud as commissioner.
The request was contained in a letter dated 15th October, 2020, and read on the floor during plenary by the Senate President, Ahmad Lawan.
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9jaRealist
July 23, 2020 at 1:53 am
It is it a Share Purchase Agreement, but rather a Power Purchase Agreement. It sounds like the same sort of a Take-or-Pay arrangement that has gotten Ghana into loads of debt. Not surprised though, since government folks are usually dazzled by overseas trips and estacode, instead of getting competent advisors to negotiate these sophisticated deals. Dear Senators, in business, you do not get what is fair, but what you negotiate.