INTERVIEW
You can call them at 2 o’clock in the morning, you will get no response because they don’t care. If I have an issue, I will call the MD and he will make calls and people will respond. If I have issues with gas, I will call MD , NGC and he makes calls and people respond but if I don’t get a response from them , I will call the VP’s office. Anytime you call someone, you get a response. We have 330KV lines and 132 KV lines so that we can evacuate our power efficiently. What’s the biggest electricity user in Nigeria? Lagos, right? Lagos has 7 steel mills and each one can use power from 0MW in 60 seconds upto 39MW
Egbin Power Plc Media Tour
think because they have seen the success of Gencos. We have all the power that we can produce. I think that’s why they have the current MD in office. He is a businessman. He will put the procedures in place so that they don’t work as a government entity anymore but a private company because a private company works towards positive results. OGR: What are some of the other challenges faced by Egbin power plant?
DALLAS: One of the issue asides Forex, TCN, gas and all of that is security. We have got the largest power plant not just by the size of the plant but by the surrounding megawatts we give them . They have not property. You know , we have 683 hectares done that. Even we just got paid for the that we purchase with the power plant. We But the way it is now, because of the lack of month of November, 2016, five months have 400 homes that have been built on our gas and issues with TCN, they are rejecting later and they only paid 18 per cent of what property and we are working at building the load, they are selling their gas to they owe. If you are owed N100 and you the second phase to double the capacity. somebody else—we cannot produce are paid N18, how can you live on that? We are going to do that by Q4, 2020. In enough electricity to solve all of that about 3 years, we would have more than challenge being used in lagos. OGR: What do you have to say about doubled the capacity. We have some the newly constituted NERC? individuals who have tried to come in to OGR: Last year, there was a report that sabotage our switchyard. They have come debt you are being owed is affecting DALLAS: What I would expect is for in and done all kinds of damage. your business, what’s the update and them to look into and evaluate what we how much do you owe? have done in the last 3 and half years. They OGR: Why do you think they are doing have a lot of work to do. I think they are that? DALLAS: We are been owed N106 very intelligent people. Mr. President and billion. I owe the gas companies N40 his group selected these people because of DALLAS: I think because it was owed by billion. And we have other business like their expertise and because they know government before. But we have got to Korean Electrical Power how the system should be. They should protect the plant because this is the number Company(KEPCO), we owe them about work with the Gencos and Discos and one asset in all of Nigeria in terms of $35 million. So you can see just those two ensure we all follow the same rules and infrastructure. When we took over the alone and that does not include the service regulations. I think for my template, the facility, we had over 500 homes that took on our debt. We owe 14 different banks. Minister has done an excellent job because over our estate. You know because we are you know, when he started, we had less isolated. Because we housed our In order to address, the liquidity challenge, than 3,000MW but we got to 5200MW employees here, we had to provide homes stakeholders have called for more within a short period because of gas and for them. We had 153 that were living in investment. What do you say? because TCN can’t keep up. But you see our homes who did not work for Egbin, now that we are almpost back to that. TCN or the government. They had just We have already invested over $1.4 Because he has been trying to bring money taken over our homes. So, we had to go billion. The problem with that is we from government to try to support Gencos, there and remove them . we have had to expected at some point to start breaking Discos and inparticular support TCN. I take them to court, they took us to court--even and actually try to get a return on our think TCN has to step up their game and I we won every case but we have gotten 126 investment. When you buy a new car, you think they will but it’s justb going to take homes back that means we are still 27 to don’t buy because it is shiny, you buy time . on the fuel side, the government has go. They just refused to leave. People because in the next 2 or 3 years, it will get got to step in to pay us so we can pay the have built their homes right up to the plant. you where you need to go on time and gas people. How can we expand the plant if you have dependable. With this plant, we have spent got people building on our property? almost 41.5 billion and from that we The issue of low transmission, obsolete expected to pay our gas bills . it’s hard to equipment has been said to be a major OGR: With this issue, is there any plan bring in additional investment if you cant cause of electricity supply issue in the to increase capacity? be guaranteed to be paid what you are country, do you think TCN should be owed. You habe NBET,FG about the privatised? DALLAS: Of course. We are going to issues with the DISCOs. But our contract double capacity. You know, right now, it is says we sell power to NBET. We have no Yes, they should be privatized and I think 1320 MW. We have got plans to add 1700 concern with what happens at that end. It is even the government has said the answer to MW. We have started the process. By Q4, between the government and them. the that is yes. Because of capital investment 2020, that plant will be up and running. government guarantees to pay us for every over the years and lack of work plan and I