The Federal Government is seeking to recover up to 350 megawatts of electricity capacity from the Zungeru Hydropower Project as regulators move to address constraints limiting the plant’s output.
The 700MW hydropower plant is currently generating about 350MW, leaving roughly half of its installed capacity unused.
The Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC) said it had begun a review of the legal and operational issues affecting the $1.3bn project, which is operated by Penstock Limited under a Public-Private Partnership arrangement.
The commission brought together the Federal Ministries of Power and Water Resources and Sanitation, the Bureau of Public Enterprises and the concessionaire in Abuja to identify the challenges and agree measures to improve the plant’s performance.
ICRC Director-General, Dr Jobson Oseodion Ewalefoh, said the government could not afford to have PPP power assets operating below their potential at a time when Nigeria was seeking to improve electricity supply.
“Signing a concession agreement is only the first step; implementation of the terms in the PPP agreement is what delivers results,” Ewalefoh said.
He said the commission was responsible for monitoring compliance with PPP agreements and ensuring that both government and private-sector partners fulfilled their obligations.
According to him, the objective is to improve sustainability, service delivery, return on investment and value for money.
The ICRC said the Zungeru review would form part of a wider assessment of PPP-operated power assets across the country.
It plans to review the performance of other major power assets, including Kainji, Jebba, Shiroro, Dadinkowa and Kashimbila.
The commission said the findings from the reviews would be compiled and submitted to President Bola Tinubu.
Ewalefoh said the reviews were necessary to determine whether existing PPP arrangements were delivering the efficiency expected from private-sector participation in the management of government assets.
“Efficiency is a key reason government assets are handed over to the private sector, and the Commission must ensure that efficiency is achieved through regulatory monitoring and compliance,” he said.
The stakeholders are expected to reconvene to assess progress in resolving the legal and operational challenges identified at the Zungeru plant.
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