Articule Culled from the Businessday Newspaper of 27th March 2009

Power minister, Lanre Babalola, has said time is ripe for the National Council on Privatisation (NCP) to give the green light for the winding up of operations of the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN).
According to him, since the Electric Power Sector Reform Act has since abrogated PHCN and its assets handed over to the 18 successor companies, the law does not give room for the coexistence of PHCN with the successor companies.
While explaining that the law establishing PHCN stated clearly that “NCP should at one point give order to the winding up of PHCN”, the minister noted that the law does not give room for the coexistence of PHCN and its successor companies.
“The 2005 electricity reforms Act has since abrogated PHCN; all its assets and liabilities have been handed over to

18 successor companies spanning from power generation to transmission and to distribution. The companies were duly incorporated and licensed to conduct various businesses across the country”, he stressed.
Babalola, who made this submission at a press briefing yesterday in Abuja disclosed that autonomy would be given to the PHCN successor companies as part of strategies to achieve 6,000 mega watts target by December 2009 
The minister, who lamented that the PHCN is losing half of the revenue generated to lack of proper coordination, remarked that the reform is to close the gap created. 
“The fact is that 50 percent of what we produce is not accounted for. If PCHN generates about N70 billion, it is still about 45 percent of what should be generated as revenue. The problem is that PHCN could not give account for the half of the revenue generated. I am not saying the money goes into the pocket of somebody but the PCHN could not collect the money and also the power doesn’t get to the consumers that can pay,” he stated.
Babalola therefore disclosed that the ministry in its resolute plan to achieve 6,000 mega watts electricity generation by December 2009 will provide adequate autonomy and resources to the existing PHCN generation successor companies and hold them accountable and responsible for sustaining their respective current actual generation capacity.
According to him, the current installed capacity of PHCN plants is 7,150mw while current available capacity is 3,995mw. He explained that Egbin has the capacity to generate 1,080mw, Kainji 480mw, Jebba 360mw, Shiroro 450mw, Sapele 170mw, Afam 72, Delta 392mw, Geregu 414mw, Omotosho 300mw and Papalanto 300mw, bringing the total to 3,955mw.
He said government would also provide necessary support to the existing Independent Power Plants such as AES with the capacity of 288mw, Okpai 480mw, Afam VI 300mw and Omoku 75mw, totaling 1,143mw to sustain the capacities.
Babalola stated that government was also set to provide adequate resources and authority to rehabilitate some identified units in some generation successor companies under PHCN which include Kanji, Delta, Afam and Sapele
The minister stressed that Kainji would rehabilitate and upgrade IG9, IG10 and ID12 for an increased generation capacity of 45mw, while Delta will rehabilitate GT7 (20mw), GT16 (90mw) and GT19 (90mw), as Afam is expected to conclude the rehabilitation of GT18 (70mw) and GT20 (138mw). Similarly, Sapele will conclude the rehabilitation of STO3 (100mw), Babalola said, stressing that the rehabilitation efforts shall provide an additional 553mw actual generation capability.