- The 100MW project is being developed in Kogi State, in the central region of Nigeria by Spanish subsidiary, Alten Africa.
- A request for proposal (RFP) process will follow the EOI which will award a contract for the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) as well as operation and maintenance of the solar plant.
- The Nigerian renewable energy program has recently stalled due to a deadlock in tariff determination.
Middle Band Solar One Limited (MBSO), a Nigerian solar power project company, is seeking expressions of interest (EOI) from interested firms to carry out the engineering, procurement, construction and operation of a 100 MW solar plant in Nigeria.
The project is set to be located in Kogi State, in the central part of the country. The project has a long-term power purchase agreement (PPA) with an unstated third party. A request for proposal (RFP) process will follow the EOI which will award a contract for the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) as well as operation and maintenance of the solar power plant,
MBSO invites EPC contractors and O&M operators, with previous experience in the engineering, procurement, construction and operation of PV plants, to submit their expression of interest by 2pm, 26th October 2018.
Alten Africa is part of Spain-based independent power producer (IPP) Alten Energias Renovables.
Large-scale solar projects are mostly being developed by IPPs in Nigeria. In the African nation, they usually negotiate and execute a put and call option agreement (PCOA) with the Federal Ministry of Finance, after executing a PPA. The PCOA guarantee mechanism transfers the payment risk from state-owned company, Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading Plc (NBET), directly to the ministry. In July 2016, NBET signed PPAs for as much as 975 MW of solar.
Nigeria is aiming to reach a 20% share of solar power generation in its electricity mix by 2030. Their renewable energy program has recently stalled due to a deadlock in tariff determination. The Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading Plc and the Federal Ministry of Power have still not reached an agreement with the 14 solar independent power producers regarding the tariff structure.
Developers are unable to proceed with the projects following concerns raised by the federal government over high tariffs embedded in the PPAs. It is reported that the IPPs are proposing to sell the generated power at US 0.115 cents per kWh, however, the federal government is insisting on US 0.075 cents per kWh.
Author : Bryan Groenendaal
