By Adaobi Rhema Oguejiofor
The Federal Government has signed a 20-year Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with Trans-Afam Power Limited, which is a subsidiary of Transcorp Power, in order to build up the 726 megawatt (MW) capacity Trans-Afam Power Plant that is located in Rivers State.
The PPA signing took place in Abuja on Thursday in the presence of the Minister of Finance, Zainab Ahmed, at the headquarters of the Federal Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning. The Managing Director (MD) of the Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading (NBET), Nnaemeka Ewelukwa, signed the deal on behalf of the FG, while the Chairman of Trans-Afam Power Limited, Stanley Lawson, signed on behalf of his Company.
Ahmed, while speaking at the event, said that Nigeria is optimistic that Transcorp would ramp up the capacity of the power plant in order to boost the country’s electricity generation.
In her own words, “thank you to Trans-Afam Power for really coming out and showing your interest in this power project that has a maximum capacity of 726MW. Transcorp has been one of the most significant players in the generation arm of the power sector.
The MD of NBET said that one of the roles of the Agency in the power sector was to incentivize investments in power generation, as well as provide assurance of power off-take from privatized power plants. He also added that the winning bidder of Trans-Afam Power had already demonstrated capacity in Transcorp Ughelli Power Plant, adding that NBET was optimistic that the firm would build up the output of the power plant that it signed the PPA for.
The Chairman of Trans-Afam Power Limited, Stanley Lawson, who also spoke at the signing, said that he was delighted that the Company has finally been able to complete the process of signing the PPA for power generation in Nigeria. Lawson further stated that the firm would invest £150million, which is equivalent to N85 billion on the plant.