NERC HANDS OVER EMBEDDED POWER GENERATING LICENSE TO BAUCHI STATE

By Amadin Uyi

The Chairman of The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission NERC Mr Sam Amadi has handed over the operational license of the Yankari Power Company of Nigeria’s to the Bauchi State Governor, Isa Yuguda.
 

The ceremony took place earlier today at the NERC conference room in Abuja and Mr Amadi explained that the license which is an embedded license will help the state solve its electricity problems in the future and guarantee residents and businesses domiciled in Bauchi state, stable electricity.

He also said that he wants other state governors and private companies to emulate the steps taken by the Bauchi state government in delving into power generation and revealed that the project can be a model for others to follow.

Mr Amadi said that NERC is satisfied with environmental issues around the partly owned state power plant and revealed to Journalists and all those present that the Bauchi state government met with all the requirements issued them by the regulatory commission.

He also maintains that he thinks the power generation project is the future of electricity generation in the country, till a time when more power can be produced by the federal government.

NERC’s Commissioner for Legal Licenses and Enforcement Mr Stephen Azinge while giving a brief of the company revealed that the Yankari Power Company Limited submitted on March the 8^th 2012, an application for an embedded electricity generation license in respect of a 35MW gas fired Independent Power Project IPP located in Gudun Industrial Layout of Bauchi state. 

He said that the expected power to be generated would upon generation be evacuated into the Jos Electricity Distribution Company Network. Both parties had already entered a Memorandum of Understanding which would provide the framework for the collaboration between the parties for the connection of the IPP to the Distribution Network.

Mr Azinge revealed that upon the fulfillment of requirements by NERC as contained in the NERC regulations for Application for Licenses, the commission granted Yankari Power Company an embedded Electricity generation license and the company followed suit by paying its requisite license fee.

Governor Isa Yuguda of Bauchi state expressed his delight that the power plant was being finally handed over to the state. He said that government’s drive to create wealth and Jobs cannot be realized until there is adequate power. He commended the Federal government for its efforts in trying to improve the power sector and disclosed that he believes results are already evident. Mr Yuguda said he is glad that Bauchi is the first state to get a power generating license and revealed that the state aims to up its generation capacity to 1000MW in the near future. He informed all those present that Bauchi state has complied with every regulation given by NERC and commended the NERC staff for being very dedicated and professional. He further disclosed that NERC staffs involved in the negotiations were not only professional but refused to cut corners.

Mr Yuguda said that the state will finish the construction of the first phase of the power plant in 3 months and will contribute to the Federal Government’s project to improve power in the shortest possible time.

He lauded NERC for opening opportunities for small holder power generation and revealed that China followed this same path in resolving its power shortage issues. He added that if other states emulate Bauchi, they will assist the country in power generation and power shortages will be a thing of the past.

 

Mr Yuguda disclosed that the NERC has set an example for other government agencies and parastatals to follow. He disclosed that the power generating plant was designed to generate about 130MW of electricity at a construction cost of $200M which is about 34 billion naira. The funding for the plant which is a gas fired plant but can also run on crude oil and diesel will be sourced from the Federal Government’s 1.3Billion dollars loan facility from the China NEXIM bank.

He also revealed that counterpart funding will be obtained from the Bank of industry and hopes that available gas discovered in the Yankari basin with estimated reserves of about 30 billion cubic feet of gas will serve as ready fuel for the plant in the future.