The CEO of Egbin Power Plc, Mokhtar Bounour, says the company is losing a lot of money because there isn't enough gas, which is affecting power generation across the country.
Bounour made this statement on Thursday while talking to reporters after the Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, visited the Egbin Power Plant in Ikorodu, Lagos.
The CEO mentioned that the power company can't operate the plant at full capacity due to the low gas supply.
He explained that the plant, which can produce 1,000MW, is only producing an average of 400MW because of the lack of gas.
Regarding the private meeting with the minister, Bounour said the management had discussed all the difficulties they are facing and that the minister has promised to gradually solve them for improvements in the near future.
He said, “One of the major challenges we are facing right now is gas availability.
“We don’t have enough gas to run the full capacity of the plant, and we are losing a lot of revenue.
“This is a 40-year hold plant, we are investing a lot; it requires a lot of effort, a lot of investments to keep the unit running and safe; and if you don’t generate, you will have a big unbalance.
“The quantity of gas allocated to us is not enough to run the six units. We have received calls from the gas suppliers that they have some technical challenges to sort out. We hope we can receive a good quantity of gas as soon as possible.”
He added that the Federal Government is owing the GenCo to the tune of N1.4tn.
“The second challenge is the cumulative debts. We are having some liquidity issues that we all hope will be solved soon.
“The Federal Government is owing us N1.4tn, but the minister has promised that starting from April, we will start seeing improvements, and we are looking forward to it. If the debts are not paid, the business can’t be sustained,” he stated.
