The Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC) has moved to address factors limiting the output of the 700-megawatt Zungeru Hydropower Plant, which currently supplies about 350 megawatts to Nigeria’s National Grid.
The commission said it was stepping up regulatory monitoring of the $1.3 billion project to ensure that the facility delivers better value and contributes more effectively to the country’s electricity supply.
ICRC Acting Head of Media and Publicity, Ifeanyi Nwoko, disclosed this in a statement on Thursday in Abuja.
The Zungeru project is operated under a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) arrangement involving the Federal Government and Penstock Limited, the concessionaire.
Nwoko said the ICRC had convened a stakeholders’ meeting with the Federal Ministry of Power, Federal Ministry of Water Resources and Sanitation, Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) and Penstock to identify issues affecting the plant’s performance.
He said the meeting was held pursuant to the ICRC Act 2005, with the BPE acting as grantor under a power of attorney from the Ministry of Power.
Speaking at the meeting, ICRC Director-General, Dr Jobson Ewalefoh, said government could not afford to allow strategic power assets to operate below their potential at a time the administration was working to tackle the country’s electricity challenges.
“President Bola Tinubu’s promise to Nigerians that he will solve the power problem is not words for the sake of it.
“It is a statement he meant, and he has charged all of us to support him by playing our roles to deliver on this promise,” Ewalefoh said.
He said the commission’s intervention was not aimed at taking sides in the PPP arrangement but at ensuring that both the grantor and concessionaire complied with their contractual obligations.
According to him, the ICRC was established as the regulator of PPPs and was not itself a party to PPP agreements.
Ewalefoh said Section 20 of the ICRC Act empowered the commission to take custody of concession agreements made under the law and monitor compliance with their terms and conditions.
He added that the commission was also required to ensure the efficient execution of government concession agreements and compliance with the provisions of the Act.
“Signing a concession agreement is only the first step; implementation of the terms in the PPP agreement is what delivers results.
“In PPP, risks are shared and no party is doing the other a favour.
“Our duty is to ensure sustainability, return on investment is achieved, services are delivered, and value for money is secured in the interest of the Nigerian people,” he said.
Ewalefoh said the commission would extend the compliance review to other PPP-operated power plants, including Kainji, Jebba, Shiroro, Dadinkowa and Kashimbila.
He said the findings from the reviews would be compiled into a final report for submission to President Tinubu.
The ICRC boss also pledged closer collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Power and other stakeholders to ensure that PPP power assets perform at optimal levels and contribute meaningfully to meeting the country’s energy needs.
He said the commission would similarly review other existing PPP arrangements to identify performance gaps and ensure that government assets transferred to private operators deliver the efficiency expected from such partnerships.
“Efficiency is a key reason government assets are handed over to the private sector, and the commission must ensure that such efficiency is achieved through regulatory monitoring and compliance,” Ewalefoh said.
