PHCN says Transcorp, others beat deadline

ABUJA — Transcorp Consortium, comprising  local and international partners, are among the few companies that beat the July 17 deadline given to interested companies, to submit technical bids for the 25 companies unbundled from the Power Holding Company of Nigeria scheduled for privatization.
The Bureau of Public Enterprises, BPE, revealed,  Wednesday, that about 25 companies met the deadline.
Vanguard gathered that Transcorp was one of the few companies that met the rigorous bid submission deadlines set for the acquisition of thermal and hydro generating plants across the country.
Trancorp led the Transcorp/Woodrock/Symbion consortium of local and international technical partners with  strong experience in power generation in Nigeria and other developing countries in Africa and the Middle East and developed markets in the US to bid for the Ughelli Power Plant after paying the compulsory $200 million bid bond.
Other companies that met the bid submission deadline included the Marubeni Corporation, a giant Japanese firm bidding for the Kainji Power Plant; Fenika Electric, NPG Consortium, Delta Utility, Dan Globe Consortium, Botad/GE, Amperion Power, Taleveras, Ethiope/Rockson Engineering.
The Ughelli plant, one of the largest under the stable with an installed capacity of 972 Mega watts, attracted the highest interests with  nine bids.
To get this far, Transcorp earlier in the year entered into a partnership agreement with Symbion Power; a US-based energy company.
The partnership, thereafter, placed Transcorp in a strong position to bid for and acquire a controlling stake in one or more power generation and distribution companies being privatised by the federal government.
Assets for sale
Other  assets slated for private acquisition are thermal power  plants including:
Geregu Power Plc-414mw; Afam Power Plc comprising Afam I-V-776mw; and Sapele Power Plc-1020mw.
The other plants include the Kainji Hydro Power Plant and the Shiroro Hydro Power Plant.
The call for bids saw international and local companies expressed their interest in the acquisition of these power companies created from the unbundling of the Power Holding Company of Nigeria, PHCN.
The bid evaluation team comprises officers from the BPE; the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory. Commission, NERC; the Economic and Financial. Crimes Commission, EFCC; and the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission, ICPC.
Following the anticipated rigorous bid process, the Federal Government had warned that the team adheres strictly to the privatization guidelines.

By Clara Nwachukwu