Page 11 - AfrElec Week 42

AfrElec
NEWS IN BRIEF
AfrElec
launched in 2013 by then president Barack Obama and aims to bring electricity to tens of millions of households in Africa.
One reform under the agreement involved handing over operations at state- run Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) in March to Ghana Power Distribution Services (PDS), a consortium led by Philippine electricity company Meralco.
But Ghana’s finance minister informed US officials on Saturday that the government was cancelling the 20-year concession it had signed with PDS, saying payment guarantees provided were not satisfactory.
In a statement, the US embassy said
the decision to terminate the contract was unjustified and that the MCC was therefore cancelling $190 million in grants.
The remaining $308 million will still be disbursed.
“The United States underscores the importance of contract sanctity as essential to a conducive investment climate and a pre- condition for inclusive economic growth,” it said.
Ghana’s Information Minister Kojo Oppong Nkrumah said that the US announcement did not represent “a crisis of confidence” between the two governments.
“It has been a difference in opinion which we have mutually agreed to respect,” he said.
TRANSMISSION & DISTRIBUTION
Nigeria to expand
transmission, distribution
networks with a $3bn loan
Nigeria has applied for a $3bn loan at the World Bank for the expansion of transmission
and distribution networks confirmed the minister of finance, budget and national planning, Hajiya Zainab Ahmed.
According to Ahmed, the West African country is set to get the approval of the first tranche of the $3bn loan by April 2020, reports the Leadership.
Addressing the media at the end of the 2019 Annual Meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank in Washington DC, Ahmed said the federal government had put a request for financing of the sector at the range of $1.5bn to $4bn.
She explained: “At the end of the day, it is like we would be looking at the funding size of $3bn that will be provided in four tranches of $750 million each. Our plan is that the team will be able to go to the World Bank for the approval of the first tranche in April 2020.
“The $3bn that we are trying to raise from the World Bank is for financing the power sector. This financing will include right now, the gap between what is provided for in the current tariff and the cost of the businesses themselves. So, there is a tariff shortfall but
it would also enhance our ability to pay the previous obligations that have crystallised that we have not yet been able to pay.”
Ahmed said some portion of the funds will be used for the transmission network and “if we are able to expand the facility to $4 billion, the additional $1 billion is for the distribution network”.
The minister said the facility will help the government to exit the subsidy that is now inherent in the power sector.
“It is supposed to be to reform the sector, to restore the distribution business side of the sector especially on a stronger footing so that they are freed up enough to go out and raise financing to invest in expanding the distribution network,” she said.
GAS-FIRED GENERATION
Gas shortage reduces
Nigeria’s electricity
generation by 20%
Electricity Generation Companies (GenCos), comprising gas-fired and hydro stations, said that they could not generate 1,631.5MW of electricity on Saturday due to unavailability of gas.
This is contained in a daily energy report by the Advisory Power Team, office of the Vice President, a copy of which was obtained by the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Sunday.
The report also noted that 0MW
of electricity was not generated due to unavailability of transmission infrastructure during the period.
Similarly, it said that 3,258.5MW were not generated due to high frequency resulting from unavailability of distribution infrastructure.
The report, however, said that the GenCos released an average of 3,349 MW of electricity into the national grid on Saturday.
It said that the electricity sent out by the GenCos was down by 16.77MW from the 3,365MW released on Friday.
The report said zero (0)MW was recorded as losses due to water management procedures.
The report revealed that the power sector lost an estimated NGN2.34 billion ($6.4mn) on October 18 due to insufficient gas supply, distribution and transmission infrastructure.
On sector reform/activities, it said that the dominant constraint for Saturday was high frequency resulting from unavailability of distribution infrastructure.
Week 42 23•October•2019
w w w . N E W S B A S E . c o m
P11