23 November 2012, Sweetcrude, Abuja – THE Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading Company Plc, NBET, has assured all Independent Power Producers, IPPs, operating in the nation’s power industry of the safety of their investments.
Mr Rumundaka Wonodi, the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of NBET, said this in an interview.
“The NBET is the bulk trader, and its role is primarily to enter into power purchase agreement with the power generation companies and sell the power purchased from these generators to the distribution companies through the vesting contracts. That is the primary role, but the more fundamental strong role is the fact that we are a confidence booster for the electricity industry.
“NBET enters into bilateral Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) with IPPs and this is backed by a payment security package that allows investors to actually make investments,” he said.
Wonodi said that NBET was established due to inability of PHCN to deliver on gas purchase agreements with the Nigerian Gas Company. He explained that it was as a result of this inability that the Federal Government established a guarantor in form of NBET to fulfill this obligation.
Wonodi said that to ensure that NBET was financially viable, the federal governments entered into an arrangement with the World Bank to provide the partial risk guarantee required to strengthen the organisation to work effectively.
The federal government, for the year 2012, budgeted the sum of N20 billion to NBET as a working capital to carry out its constitutional responsibilities successfully.
