National Electric Power Authority (NEPA) has begun moves to construct a third emergency power project in Abuja. This will raise electricity supply to the Federal Capital Territory from private sources to 60 mega watts (mw).

There currently exist two of such emergency power providers (EPPs) in Abuja, supplying 20 mw each, as well as one in Lagos currently generating over 200 mw into the national grid.

The EEP scheme, was adopted by the present admnistration in 2000 as a short term measure to bolster electricity supply in the country, following the very low level of power generation by NEPA's ailing generation stations.

Other measures include the restructuring and privatisation of NEPA, spliting the power utility into 18 companies of six generating companies, one transmission company and 11 distribution firms.

THISDAY checks reveal that while emergency power generation in Lagos by the US energy group, AES, is powered on natural gas, NEPA has shortlisted three companies to provide Automotive Gas Oil (AGO) for the EPP plant in Abuja.

The three firms, namely; Ascon Oil, Zenon and MRS, sources disclosed, were shortlisted out of the 15 companies that submitted bids late last year, for the installation of a permanent storage capacity of 200,000 litres of AGO. The plant will run on 140,000 litres of oil per day.

Further checks however, reveal that the bid process has already been rocked in crisis following protest by the shortlisted firms that NEPA was planning to jettison the bidding process for a direct contract award.

"There are fears that currently, some unfolding intrigues may see NEPA jettison the bid exercise despite the outcome of the process," said one official.

"This is being fueled by one of the clauses in the national bid document which states that any time before the award of the contract, the purchaser (NEPA) reserves the right to cancel the bid or leave out any bidder without incurring any liability," the officials added,

Prospective bidding companies paid a performance bond of N6 million each.

Industry officials said the policy inconsistency had earlier scuttled the processing of 26 applications for EPPs submitted to NEPA in 2000, while the authority was despirate to raise power output from 1,600 mw then.

The privatisation option for the power utility has also dragged on, and this had suffered several postponements by the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE), following the non-passage of the bill on the electricity reforms by the National Assembly.

Nigeria needs at leaat 6,000 mw to guarantee stable power supply this year alone.

NEPA, which claimed to have hit 4,000 mw by the end of 2001, has had its electricity output cut back to around 3,000 mw following problems with generating units.