Adewale Agunbiade, a prosecuting witness in the trial of former Minister of Power and Steel, Olu Agunloye on Monday, September 23, 2024 narrated before Justice Jude Onwuegbuzie of the Federal Capital Territory High Court, sitting in Apo, Abuja, how the defendant allegedly received N5.2million from Jide Sotirin Abiodun, a staff of Sunrise Power and Transmission Ltd in multiple transfers and Automated Teller Machine, ATM, withdrawals.
The witness, a Compliance Officer, formerly with Guaranty Trust Bank, GTB, but now with Jaiz Bank Plc, while being led in his examination-in-chief, by prosecution counsel, Rotimi Oyedepo, SAN, disclosed that “On October 2022, GTB received an investigation activity inquiry from EFCC in respect of the account of two customers, Mr Olu Agunloye and Mr Jide Sotinri.
My team received the requests on behalf of the bank, following which I generated the statement of account via the system used by me at a time. I also prepared the Certificate of Identification, following my review of the statement against the records of the bank. I cosigned the cover letter of the responses.”
Upon identifying and confirming the letters from EFCC in respect of the said accounts, marked Exhibit 1a and 2a and GTB’s responses marked Exhibit 2a and 2b, “On page two of Exhibit 2b is the statement of Jide Sotirin Abiodun and the Certificate of Identification prepared by me on the statement of the account. On the 10th of September 2019, there were six transactions. The last five transactions were ATM cash withdrawals of N30,000 (Thirty Thousand Naira) each. The last transaction on 10 August 2019 was a transfer of N3, 600,000 (Three Million, Six Hundred Thousand Naira) from Sotirin Jide Abiodun to Olu Agunloy”, he said.
Speaking further, he disclosed that “As of 22 October 2019, a record of N500, 000 (Five Hundred Thousand Naira) was transferred from Sotirin Jide Abiodun to Olu Agunloye. On 13 November 2019, a record of N1, 121,000 (One Million One Hundred and Twenty-one Thousand Naira) from Leno in favour of Agunloye Olu from Jide Sotirin. Exhibit 1b is account opening belonging to Agunloye Olu. On 10 August, 2019 was an inward transfer of N3,600,000 (Three Million, Six Hundred Thousand Naira) from Sotinrin Jide Abiodun. On 22 October 2019, there was an inflow of N500,000 (Five Hundred Thousand Naira) from Sotirin Jide Abiodun. Also on 13th November 2019 was an inflow of N1, 121,000 (One Million One Hundred and Twenty-one Thousand Naira) in favour of Agunloye Olu from Jide Sotirin.”
The case was adjourned till October 21, 2024 for cross-examination.
Agunloye is being prosecuted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC on seven-count charges, bordering on official corruption and fraudulent award of Mambilla Power Project contract to the tune of $6billion (Six Billion US Dollars) to Sunrise Power and Transmission Ltd.
The Nigeria Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) has observed that the unsettled billing and collection inefficiencies in the electricity sector is still undermining overall performance of most electricity distribution companies (DisCos).
In its 2023 report just published the Commission maintained that the low collection efficiency combined with billing inefficiency has continued to adversely impact the financial liquidity of the industry, ultimately limiting the electricity supply industry’s ability to grow and attract investment.
During the period under review, only the Ikeja Electricity Distribution Company had a collection efficiency above 90 per cent, which the regulator said can be partly attributable to the fact that it leads the DisCos in terms of overall metering rate (72.54 per cent) as of the end of 2023.
The IKEDC was followed by Eko and Abuja Discos with collection efficiencies of 84.31 per cent and 80.19 per cent respectively.
However, Yola Disco had the lowest collection efficiency of 43.56 per cent, according to the report.
In the year, the Federal Government paid N610bn as electricity subsidy.
The NERC stated the cumulative Minimum Remittance Obligation for DisCos was 52.92 per cent, being N685.69bn out of N1.29tn invoices issued by the Nigeria Bulk Electricity Trading Plc, meaning that “the government incurred a subsidy obligation of N610.06bn (47.08 per cent of total NBET invoices).”
The report added that an MRO-adjusted invoice of N858bn was issued by NBET and Market Operator for energy costs and administrative services to DisCos in 2023.
“The DisCos remitted a total of N706.73bn resulting in a deficit of N151.30bn during the year – this underpayment is known as “market shortfall”. Based on the above, the gross DisCo remittance rate to the upstream segment for 2023 was 82.37 per cent,” the report disclosed.
The NERC maintained that the total revenue collected by the DisCos from customers in 2023 was N1.07tn out of the total bill of N1.46tn to customers.
This, it was said, left an outstanding balance of N385.73bn, translating to a collection efficiency of 73.64 per cent.
According to the NERC, this implies that for every N100 worth of energy billed to customers by DisCos in 2023, approximately N26.36 was not recovered from customers.
The NERC’s performance chart shows that the top performing DisCos were Eko (105.76%), Yola (105.24%), Ikeja (96.20%), Benin (95.15%) and Ibadan (93.11%).
“Conversely, Kaduna DisCo recorded the lowest remittance performance to NBET in 2023 (17.59%).
“The MO invoice in 2023 was ₦172.33 billion, and the DisCos remitted ₦128.40 billion, translating to a 74.51% remittance performance rate. The top-performing DisCos were Yola (90.91%), Eko (90.85%) and Ikeja (90.38%) with remittances above 90% to the MO in 2023.”
The NERC said Kaduna DisCo recorded the lowest remittance of 10.75 percent to MO in 2023.
On January 9, the NERC dissolved the board of directors of the Kaduna Electricity Distribution Company (KAEDC).
The dissolution followed the DisCo’s inability to pay its N110 billion debt owed to the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry (NESI), according to a statement jointly signed by Sanusi Garba, NERC’s chairman, and his vice Musiliu Oseni.
Eko Electricity Distribution Company (EKEDC) says its metering system is designed to provide customers with reliable electricity meters in real time.
The DisCo therefore urged its customers to avoid paying individuals and unauthorized agents for its services.
The Company further stated that all payments should be made directly through the official and approved channels made available in the public domain.
The call came on the back of the arraignment of one Mufutau Olohunkemi Bello who under the guise of being an EKEDC staff defrauded a customer within the Ojo Business District to the tune of N760,375 for the purchase of seven (7) prepaid meters.
He was apprehended by the men of the Onireke Police Station and arraigned on a three-count charge of impersonation, obtaining money under false pretence and stealing all under the Criminal Laws of Lagos State.
This information was disclosed in a statement by the General Manager, Corporate Communications of the utility firm, Babatunde Lasaki, who described the matter as criminal and unfortunate during these challenging economic times.
He advised customers to desist from seeking help from individuals and unauthorized agents to avoid being defrauded.
He said “I would like to appeal to our customers to go through our official and approved channels to pay their bills and payment for meters. If there is any clarification they need from us, they can call our customer service lines, reach us through our social media platforms or physically visit any of our office locations.
We are available to answer all their enquiries and assist with their needs. Also, there should not be any gratification of any form to our staff as we are all on the payroll of the company to serve and support them.”
Similarly, one Ifeanyi Enekwunchi has been arraigned before the Hon. (Mrs.) A. O. Akokhia’s Magistrate Court 1, Iba on a three-count charge of conspiracy to tamper with electric wires belonging to EKEDC, conduct likely to cause breach of peace and willful and unlawful interference with electric wires by illegal reconnection after being disconnected due to nonpayment.
Lasaki also advised customers against illegal activities to avoid facing the full extent of the law because EKEDC will not take lightly any act of illegality or unwholesome activities. He said that customers should utilize all the available mechanisms to seek amicable solutions to their issues instead of resorting to self-help.
A building solutions company, Lafarge Africa Plc, has sought stronger ties with the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, NERC, to scale up the company’s power generation capacity.
Lafarge Africa Plc, a member of Holcim Group, has also applauded NERC for evolving Nigeria’s power sector to a more reliable energy landscape.
The Managing Director and CEO of Lafarge Africa Plc, Lolu Alade-Akinyemi, made the request to scale up the company’s power generation during a courtesy visit to the Commission in Abuja.
Alade-Akinyemi said, “I want to acknowledge the vibrant role that NERC has played regarding the evolution of the power sector.
“The regulatory clarity and forward-thinking policies have laid a solid foundation for a more resilient and reliable energy landscape.
“We are here to deepen our partnerships to scale-up our capacity,” noted Alade-Akinyemi.
Responding, NERC Chairman, Sanusi Garba who received the Lafarge team, assured of the Commission’s willingness to provide support to Lafarge.
Similarly, NERC Vice Chairman Dr Musiliu Oseni, called for the constitution of a technical team of NERC and Lafarge to further discuss energy scale-up requests.
Electricity prices in Italy are the highest among major European economies, due to an enduring reliance on fossil fuels for power generation despite growth in renewable energy output.
Italy’s wholesale electricity prices have averaged around 100 euros per megawatt hour (MWh) so far in 2024, according to energy think tank Ember.
That compares to 69 euros in Germany and 50 euros in Spain, and means that Italy’s households and businesses pay far larger energy bills than most of their peers across Europe.
FOSSIL FIX
High dependence on fossil fuels for electricity generation is the main driver behind Italy’s high power costs. In 2023, 55% of Italy’s electricity came from fossil fuels, Ember data shows.
That compared to 45% in Germany, 39% in the United Kingdom, 25% in Spain and 41% for Europe as a whole.
So far in 2024, Italy’s power firms have managed to lift clean power generation to a new record, and have cut the share of fossil fuels in electricity generation below 50% for the first time, to 47%.
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However, that fossil generation share still exceeds that of rival economies, with Europe as a whole recording a 37% average fossil share this year and Germany a 40% share.
HIGH AND RISING
Italy’s fossil fuel generation share is expected to increase over the remainder of the year as clean power generation declines.
The lift in Italy’s clean power output so far in 2024 has been mainly fuelled by a 45% rise in output from hydro dams and a 18% rise in solar generation.
Along with a 2% rise in wind output, the higher hydro and solar production helped lift total clean electricity generation by 20% from January through August from the same months in 2023.
In total, Italy’s clean electricity generation hit a record 88 terawatt hours (TWh) during the January to August period, compared to 73.4 TWh during the same months in 2023.
However, both hydro and solar generation peak during summer in Italy, and then trend steadily lower over the remainder of the year as snow melt levels drop off and reduced daylight cuts into solar output.
That means that total clean power generation will also decline, and will likely spur a revival in fossil fuel-fired output as we head into winter and the country’s main heating season.
GAS PRICE PRESSURE
Italy’s power firms mainly rely on natural gas for power generation, with around 45% of electricity generation coming from gas-fired plants in 2023.
In contrast, Germany’s power producers only relied on natural gas to generate around 15% of electricity last year, while the average for Europe as a whole was 24%.
What’s more, more than 95% of Italy’s gas comes from imports due to steadily declining domestic gas production.
Such a high reliance on imported gas means that Italy’s power firms have been at the mercy of international gas markets for the lion’s share of their power generation fuels.
In addition, Italy’s government has opted to replace gas supplies from Russia – which was sanctioned by European Union member states following its invasion of Ukraine in 2022 – with purchases from other suppliers.
This switch-out of gas from Russia – which was formerly Italy’s single largest gas supplier – with gas from other suppliers has strained gas market flows across Europe, and lifted overall gas prices.
In addition, Italy has plugged a growing share of its gas supply gap with imports of liquefied natural gas (LNG), which is considerably more expensive than gas supplied via pipeline.
PASSED ON COSTS
Much of the higher costs of gas imports have been passed on to Italy’s consumers in the form of the higher wholesale electricity costs.
Italy’s government has tried to soften the blow of higher energy prices by lowering sales taxes and providing subsidies for the build-out of renewable energy generation capacity.
But with utilities on the hook for aggressive increases in renewable energy capacity as part of a new energy security decree passed last year, households have borne the brunt of the impact from the higher cost of energy imports.
And with power providers set to face steep capital costs as they construct new clean energy production assets, utilities are not in any position to cut prices for households any time soon.
That means that Italy’s energy consumers look set to keep paying among the highest rates in Europe for their power and electricity for the foreseeable future.
South African petrochemicals company Sasol and state power utility Eskom said on Friday they had agreed to jointly explore ways the country could use liquefied natural gas (LNG).
As the country’s two biggest users of coal, Sasol and Eskom are major polluters and so are central to the country’s efforts to transition to cleaner energy sources.
Eskom is hoping to build on a recent improvement in its plant performance, after years of imposing power cuts.
“The collaboration aims to determine the potential volumes that South Africa requires to establish a viable LNG import market along with the enabling infrastructure, and will be facilitated by government-to-government relations where necessary,” the two companies said in a statement.
“This initiative focuses on using gas for power generation to provide essential base load electricity and position gas as a key enabler of re-industrialisation,” they added.
Asked at a news conference which governments South Africa could approach to source LNG, Electricity and Energy Minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa said Qatar was near the top of the list.
“Qatar is top of the food chain because of the historic relations that Sasol enjoys with Qatar, and also the amount of reserves that they have,” Ramokgopa said.
Sasol and Eskom did not give a specific timeframe or potential joint projects on Friday.
Reporting by Tannur Anders; Editing by Alexander Winning and Frances Kerry – Reuters
Bangladesh’s efforts to clear debts of more than $1 billion owed to Indian power companies are being hampered by its inability to access the dollars it requires to pay them, documents showed and sources familiar with the matter said.
Bangladesh is battling to pay off its over $1 billion debt to Indian power companies due to her inability to access the dollar it requires to make the payment, according to available documents as well as sources familiar with the issue.
Following costly fuel and goods imports since the 2022 war in Ukraine, the country has been struggling to pay its bills which was compounded by the political turmoil in the country which led to the ouster of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in August.
Bangladesh is urgently seeking $5 billion in financial aid from international lenders to stabilise its dwindling foreign exchange reserves and its central bank has raised key interest rates to tame soaring inflation. Last year, it sought a $4.7 billion bailout from the International Monetary Fund.
An official at the Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) on Friday said that “efforts are on to clear the outstanding payments, but the current dollar crisis is complicating the process significantly,”.
Of the more than $1 billion owed to India’s power companies, some $800 million is owed to Adani Power, he added.
Adani Power did not respond to a request for comment.
PTC India and SEIL Energy India Ltd have written to the BPDB to recover about $80 million and $190 million respectively in payment for power they provided to Bangladesh, documents reviewed by Reuters show.
“PTC has a long term business relation of supplying power to BPDB since 2013 and the power supply under (the) current contract is from 2022,” a PTC India spokesperson said.
A SEIL spokesperson said it had informed the Bangladesh authorities about what it called an “unsustainable situation”.
Bangladesh, which imports nearly 20% of its power from its neighbour India, has not paid for the electricity for the last eight to nine months, a source told Reuters.
SEIL received a contract in 2018 from BPDB to supply power to Bangladesh over a total period of 15 years.
“While we continue to supply power to Bangladesh, we remain hopeful the concerned authorities will uphold the contractual terms and expedite the clearing of the dues, so that power supply can be sustained,” SEIL said in a statement.
SEIL and PTC India have bank guarantees relating to their power contracts with Bangladesh for $34.1 mln and $30.7 million, respectively, the documents show.
This has left Bangladesh’s Rupali Bank trying to access dollars to settle payment of about $270 million, as otherwise the Indian companies plan to cash the guarantees.
Rupali Bank and BPDB are working “together for the necessary U.S. dollar resources from (the) Bangladesh Central Bank for the purpose of paying bills in foreign currency, which will continue in the future,” the documents show.
PTC India declined to comment on the specifics of terms and conditions of the contract, while calls to Rupali Bank went unanswered due to a weekend holiday in Bangladesh.
State-owned Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) on Friday pledged to invest 180 billion rupees ($2.16 bln) in equity for renewable capacity expansion by 2030, and announced plans to go public in the next one to two years.
Large power producers in India have been investing heavily in renewables and committing to expand green energy capacities, in tandem with the government’s aim to add at least 500 GW of clean energy by 2030 to reduce carbon emissions.
SECI, which issues tenders to renewable energy developers for solar, wind, and hybrid projects, said it expects to tender 20 gigawatt of projects this fiscal year.
IPO PLANS
Chairman and Managing Director R.P. Gupta announced SECI’s flotation plans at an industry conference, but said no decision had been made yet on the size of the initial public offering.
India’s IPO market is booming, with around 235 companies having gone public so far this year and raising more than $8.6 billion, surpassing last year’s total, LSEG data showed.
The country’s benchmark Nifty 50 index has hit record highs more than 50 times this year.
Earlier this week, NTPC Green Energy, an unit of power producer NTPC, filed its draft papers for an IPO worth up to $1.19 billion.
Lagos — The oil and gas industry has pursued energy transition avenues to decarbonize its operations. However, heightened energy security fears amid the Ukraine war have brought back the focus on fossil fuels, which has led companies to scale down their energy transition pursuit. This will likely continue in 2024, but the switch towards low-carbon energy is expected to proceed, albeit at a slower pace, says GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.
GlobalData’s thematic report, “Energy Transition in Oil and Gas,” highlights the energy transition related developments in the oil and gas industry. Companies are switching towards renewable power and other low-carbon options in their energy transition efforts. Most leading industry companies have adopted 2050 as the long-term goal for net-zero carbon emissions. A lot of promises made by them hinge on the successful implementation of their respective interim targets for 2030.
Ravindra Puranik, Oil and Gas Analyst at GlobalData, comments: “Energy security has been a concern for most countries following the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine war. The resultant supply chain disruption drove countries towards the readily available fossil fuels, thereby boosting oil and gas demand. On the other hand, the push for energy self-reliance and high inflation have somewhat derailed the clean energy adoption.”
Leading oil and gas companies have set themselves decarbonization targets for both the medium and long-term, relying on the existing and emerging technologies. Firstly, companies are increasingly investing in renewable power generation, with wind and solar power being a particular area of focus.
Puranik continues: “In 2020, several oil and gas companies announced ambitious energy transition targets. However, the hype around energy transition has somewhat subsided going into 2024. Profitability issues and inflation, along with high interest rates are causing uncertainties in undertaking renewable projects.”
The share of fossil fuels in global power generation mix is dwindling by the year. This space is increasingly being occupied by the renewable energy sources, especially solar and wind energy. Oil and gas companies are venturing in renewable power generation as part of their energy transition endeavor.
Efforts like carbon capture predominantly work to mitigate emissions, while hydrogen production, renewable power, and low-carbon fuels offer end-consumers alternatives to fossil fuels. Energy storage, mostly in the form of batteries, is another transition avenue being explored by the oil and gas industry.
Puranik concludes: “The oil and gas industry’s energy transition requires long-term planning to reduce or eliminate carbon emissions. In the short to medium-term, companies must incorporate transition fuels as well as low-carbon and zero-carbon energy sources in their portfolios. Despite periodic slowdowns, energy transition in oil and gas industry will take place and pave way for new global energy mix in the future.”
Nigeria and Morocco are leading in the deployment of small-scale solar, contributing to the $2 billion in the investment in 2023 in the North and West regions, up from $0.7 billion in 2022, according to a new report.
Nigeria’s decision to end a longstanding subsidy on imported petrol for consumers in mid-2023 increased the costs of using petrol for private power generators and has helped the case for small-scale solar.
The African Union has committed to bring 300 gigawatts of renewables online by 2030 more than quadruple the 72 gigawatts the continent had last year in order to reach its decarbonization and energy access goals.
The Africa Power Transition Fact book 2024, produced by BloombergNEF (BNEF) with support from Bloomberg Philanthropies, finds that the target means annual deployments will need to jump from 8GW today to 32.5GW per year for the rest of the decade.
Progress has been made as Africa’s installed renewable energy capacity has doubled over the last decade.
However, neither country-level targets nor BNEF’s deployment forecast are aligned with the African Union’s 300GW goal.
The BNEF’s 2030 forecast for wind and solar additions falls 43% short of the necessary build, and even the upper range of country-level targets misses it by 35 per inch.
This points to a major delivery gap, as the continent looks to expand energy access.
There are reasons for optimism: African markets hit a record year for renewable energy investment in 2023.
The $15 billion tracked last year by BNEF more than double the previous year’s figures represents 2.3 per cent of the global total, although that still falls below the region’s 3 per cent share of global electricity generation.
The growth could be indicative of improved investment conditions in some parts of the region. Over half of the investment was driven by a small number of utility-scale wind, solar and geothermal projects reaching financial close in Egypt, Morocco, Kenya, Niger and South Africa.
Wind and solar dominated activity, while a record $3.2 billion of geothermal investment also went to two new plants in Kenya.
Small-scale solar was an even stronger growth driver. Investment in the technology more than tripled to $6.3 billion in 2023, when it drove 41% of total renewable energy investment across the continent.
A key factor was the technology’s fivefold growth rate in South Africa, catalyzed by a removal of generator licensing thresholds in January 2023 and the introduction of tax incentives for businesses investing in renewables in March 2023, as well as power outages.
Meanwhile, Morocco reported increased imports of solar modules in 2023 that BNEF expects primarily served the commercial and residential segments.
African markets are also adding renewable energy capacity at a faster rate than fossil-fuel capacity.
The continent added 7.9GW of renewable energy capacity in 2023, more than triple the net additions of fossil fuels last year.
Importantly, the rate of net fossil-fuel capacity additions has dropped to an average 3GW over the last five years, down 70% compared with the five years prior. Still, coal and gas account for two-thirds of Africa’s annual power generation, and a third of the region’s fossil-fuel capacity is less than 10 years old, built to serve rising electricity consumption.
The challenge extends beyond simply adding more renewable capacity than fossil fuels, as only a handful of African markets are driving renewable energy capacity additions at scale today. South Africa, Morocco and Egypt currently host more than two-thirds of the region’s installed wind and solar capacity, and they remain key growth drivers.
The Head of Regional Energy Transitions at BloombergNEF and lead author of the report, Emma Champion, said, “Many markets still lack a clear route-to-market for developers to build large-scale projects: less than 60% of African countries have a renewables auction or tender program in place, and even fewer award contracts regularly. The absence of clear policy and the enabling environment to attract renewable energy investment in such regions could risk derailing the African Union’s 2030 ambitions.”
Magazine
Lagos, NG
7:40 am,
December 14, 2024
25°C
scattered clouds
71 %
1011 mb
4 mph
Wind Gust:
8 mph
Visibility:
10 km
Sunrise:
6:47 am
Sunset:
6:32 pm
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