Electricity distribution companies made N189bn revenue •Afam, Kaduna financial bids to be opened July 31

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As of May this year, electricity distribution companies in the country realised N189bn as revenue despite poor supply to consumers.  This was against the N151bn collected as total revenue by the companies in 2011.

This was contained in a document obtained by our correspondent from the Federal Ministry of Power on the achievements of the government in the sector. Speaking on the development at the Ministerial Platform in Abuja on Tuesday, the Minister of Power, Prof. Chinedu Nebo, described the revenue rise as a key achievement of his ministry.

The rise in revenue may not be unconnected with the increase in electricity tariff being collected by the distribution companies, as only last week, the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission insisted that the fixed electricity charges must increase despite erratic power supply.

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Outlining other achievements of the government in power sector, Nebo said the current nominal distribution capacity stood at 7,325 megawatts as against 6,360MW in 2011.

He said installed generation capacity as of May 2013 was 9,920MW, while available capacity was 6,522MW against 9,097MW and 5,563MW respectively in 2011.

Record peak generation, according to the minister, increased to 4,517MW in May, and average peak delivered during the same period was 29,196MWH, as against 4,089MW and 27,692MWH recorded respectively in 2011.

Meanwhile, the Bureau of Public Enterprises has fixed Wednesday, July 31 for the opening of financial bids for Afam Power Plc and Kaduna Electricity Distribution Company.

This followed the recent approval of a shortlist of bidders by the National Council of Privatisation chaired by Vice-President Namadi Sambo.

Afam Power Plc and Kaduna Distribution Company are two of the 18 successors companies carved out of the Power Holding Company of Nigeria Plc.

Investigation showed that the privatisation agency had last week dispatched letters to the shortlisted bidders to come for the bid opening ceremony to be held in Abuja on July 31, 2013.

The Head, Public Communication, BPE, Mr. Chigbo Anichebe, confirmed in a telephone interview with our correspondent on Tuesday that the bid opening ceremony had been fixed for next Wednesday.

Although a total of 48 firms had expressed interest in the acquisition of majority stake in the Afam and Kaduna power plants, 28 failed to submit their financial and technical bids by the end of the deadline.