FG to Sell 5 Power Plants

The Federal Government is planning to sell five of its power plants under the National Integrated Power Projects.

The Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) is currently in negotiations to sell the plants for about $1.15 billion.

However, the actual cost of the plants is estimated to be more than $5 billion, according to industry experts.

The BPE is planning to sell these plants at a price only slightly above $1.1 billion.

The five power plants that are up for sale include the Geregu II power plant in Kogi, the Omotosho II plant in Ondo, the Olorunshogo II plant in Ogun State, the Odukpami power plant in Cross River State, and the Benin-Ihovbor plant in Edo State.

The plants for sale can generate up to 750MW of electricity and use Siemens turbines.

However, BPE has not disclosed the cost of the five plants to the public yet, but sources say the Omotosho and Olorunsogo plants with four turbines each will be sold at about $85 million and $170 million, respectively.

The Benin-Ihovbor plant with five turbines would go for $420 million, the Calabar Odukpami plant with five turbines would be sold at about $260 million, while the Geregu plant with four turbines would go for $215 million.

A source said:

“But a general range for the cost of constructing a 1MW power plant based on different technologies is that for a solar power plant, it is between $1m to $2m per MW.

“For wind power plant, it is between $1.5m to $2.5m per MW. For natural gas-fired power plant, such as the NIPPs, it is between $1m to $2m per MW, while for coal power plants, it is between $2m and $3m per MW.”