BPE prequalifies 16 firms for privatisation of five NIPPs

The Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE), says it has pre-qualified 16 firms for the privatisation of five National Integrated Power Projects (NIPPs) in the country.

Director-General of BPE, Alex Okoh announced this at the Investor Pre-bid Conference for the privatisation of the five NIPP plants held in Abuja.

He said the affected plants are: Geregu, Omotosho, Olorunsogo, Calabar and Benin-Ihovbor.

He listed the 16 pre-qualified bidders as Mota-Engil Nig, Amperion Power, Sifax Energy, Pacific Energy Company Ltd and Globeleq Africa Limited.

Others are, Geoplex Drillteq Limited, Asfalizo Acquisition Ltd, Launderhill PJB, Lauderhill Tata, Unicorn Power Genco Ltd, Connaught Energy Services Ltd, ENL Consortium Ltd, Ardova Plc, Central Electric and Utilities Ltd, North-South Power Consortium and Quantum Megawatt Consortium.

Earlier, Okoh noted that the power sector remains a viable investment in the country given the low per-capita megawatts in Nigeria.

He added that the interest shown by bidders and the opening up of the generation aspect of the power sector confirmed the vast opportunities in the sector and that the Bureau and other relevant stakeholders were committed to making the sector very sustainable.

Okoh revealed that the objectives of the pre-bid conference were to address possible questions from the prequalified bidders with regards to the transactions and provide clarity on some issues in the Transaction Documents as may be necessary.

He also said that the forum would also highlight the potential in the Nigerian power sector and provide a platform for potential investors to understand the process for the privatisation of the NIPP power plants as well as to enable them adequately to prepare their bid documents.

He allayed the fears of potential buyers of some of the plants which have litigation issues, saying that such litigations were baseless and frivolous as the Bureau and the Niger Delta Power Holding Company (NDPHC) were empowered by the bids’ provisions under NIPPs transaction to terminate bids that violated the ground rules.