By Clara Nwachukwu
The Federal Government said it plans to recover about 958 Megawatts stranded power in this financial year to increase generation capacity and enhance supply to the people.

These capacities are stranded in a number of government power plants around the country on account of neglect and lack of maintenance of equipment.

The minister of Power, Prof. Bart Nnaji, gave the hint in Lagos on Friday, at the end of a Town Hall Meeting, with the theme: Attaining Sustainable and Reliable Power Supply in Nigeria.

He told journalists that re-streaming the stranded capacity is part of measures to cushion the effects of the impending increase in electricity tariff for some classes of consumers.

The minister noted, “Many power plants are in dilapidation because they have not being maintained for any years,” adding that since government does not have the requisite funds to do the recovery, it had to go a-borrowing.

In line with this, Nnaji said a unit from Alaoji and another from Sapele power plants have been repaired and are ready to be re-streamed as soon as gas is supplied, without giving their capacities.

In addition, to fast track the process, he said some units in some of the dilapidated power plants have been contracted out, such as a unit at Afam power plant, which he said was contracted out to German electrical company, Siemens.

He added that through the privatisationprogramme, which is expected to be concluded by October, government is also compelling other investors to recover some more stranded capacities.

New tariff

With regard to the new tariff taking off from June 1 through the second phase of Multi Year Tariff Order, MYTO 2, the minister argued that the new tariff is both consumer and investor friendly.

Nnaji, who is fazed that focus on the MYTO 2 has been on the 11 percent increase in electricity tariff more than the obvious advantages it offered, argued that “Tariff is a critical element for power to attract the much needed investments to the sector.”

He insisted the new tariff is pro-people because it protects the lower classes of consumers. “Tariff for the urban poor and rural dwellers will actually go down, which is in fact, the opposite, as price will fall from N7/kilowatt hour to N4/kwh. So the urban poor and rural dwellers are protected, as their tariff will be flat across the nation.”

The minister explained that government is able to protect the poor through the subsidy provided (N100billion), which will run for two years, and thereafter, replaced by a cross subsidy.

Governors’ support

Although some raised issues on the need for subsidy, in view of its attendant corruption in the petroleum sector, but the state governors, representing the geo-political zones in the country agreed that they were in full support of the tariff hike.

The chairman of the of the occasion and Governor of Niger State, AlhajiBabangidaAliyu, explained that “It is not because the governors want more money that we agreed to the increase, but because we are concerned for the poor, who will actually pay less because they consume less power, and so that they can appreciate what government is doing for them.”