Mohammed Shosanya
Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) has issued permits to selected megabrands including Golden Penny Power Limited, MTN Communications Nigeria Limited, Havenhill Synergy and others to build mini-grid electricity generation plants in the country.
NERC issued nine new off-grid generation licenses in the first quarter of 2024 with a gross capacity of 109.69 megawatts and three new trading licenses,reports said.
Golden Penny Power Limited got a license to build six off-grid gas plants in Lagos, Oyo, Ogun, and Cross River states. The total capacity is 100MW.
MTN also got permit to build four captive generation plants across Lagos State with 15.94MW capacity.
Besides,SweetCo Foods Limited, African Steel Mills Nigeria Limited, West African Ceramics Limited, Royal Engineered Stones Limited, and Armilo Plastics Limited were also permitted to generate captive power.
Other licensed companies who are beneficiaries for mini-grids are Daybreak Power Solutions, TIS Renewable Energy Limited, Auro Nigeria Private Limited, Watts Exchange Limited, Centum Dopemu Energy Services Ltd, and DMD Electric Limited Lagos State.
The commission said:“Following the satisfactory evaluation of mini-grid applications, the commission issued three mini-grid permits and two registration certificates in 2024/Q1.
“Captive power generation permits are issued to entities that aim to own and maintain power plants for generating power for consumption and not for sale to a third party. The commission issued nine captive power generation permits in 2024/Q1 with a total nameplate capacity of 52.57MW.”
