Nigeria’s Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) is set to sell five power plants under the National Integrated Power Projects at a cost of about $1.15 billion.

Sources close to the development, as reported by Punch Newspaper, have claimed that the plants’ costs should surpass $5 billion based on worldwide standards, but the BPE intended to sell the facilities for slightly more than $1.1 billion.

Ignatius Ayewoh, the interim Director-General of BPE, confirmed to newsmen that “the transaction is ongoing” and “it is not concluded.” However, the BPE boss declined to provide the cost of the five plants, saying in a brief statement that he was at a meeting and would not be able to provide further information.

Nonetheless, reliable sources within the agency identified the five power facilities as the Kogi-based 434 megawatt gas-fired Geregu II power plant, the Ondo-based 451MW Omotosho II plant, and the Ogun State-based 750MW Olorunshogo II plant. Others include the 451 MW Benin-Ihovbor facility in Edo State and the 563 MW Odukpami power plant in Calabar, Cross River State.

According to Punch Newspaper, the Omotosho plant, which has four turbines for producing electricity, would fetch around $85 million at auction, while the Olorunsogo NIPP, which also has four turbines, would cost $170 million. The Calabar Odukpami plant with five turbines would fetch roughly $260 million; the Benin-Ihovbor facility with five power-generating turbines would fetch $420 million; and the Geregu plant with four turbines would fetch $215 million.

“These are Siemens turbines, and each of the turbines can generate about 115MW of electricity,” one of the sources, who pleaded not to be named due to a lack of authorisation, stated.

The official went ahead to explain that it would cost about $1 million to construct a plant that could generate 1MW of electricity, stressing that if the five NIPP plants were valued on this basis, they would cost more than $5 billion.

It was, however, gathered that the cost of constructing 1MW power plant vary depending on several factors, including type of power plant, location, technological advancements, etc.

“But a general range for the cost of constructing a 1MW power plant based on different technologies is that for a solar power plant, it is between $1m to $2m per MW.

“For wind power plants, it is between $1.5m to $2.5m per MW. For natural gas-fired power plant, such as the NIPPs, it is between $1m and $2m per MW, while for coal power plants, it is between $2m and $3m per MW,” another source in the sector explained.

Nigeria’s energy situation has been epileptic and has been a major cost factor for production and its economic drive. According to Statista, generated electricity as of 2020 was around 35.7 thousand gigawatt hours. When compared to the level of electricity demand in the same year, which topped 29 terawatt hours, this was extremely low. To close the current demand-supply gap in the nation, more money must be invested in the production of energy.