The Edo State Commissioner for Energy, Mr. Akin Agbaje, has said that the coming on stream of the 55MW CCTEC-Ossiomo Power Plant creates competition in the state’s electricity market, and will force the Benin Electricity Distribution Company (BEDC) to improve its services to Edo people.
Speaking in an interview with journalists, Agbaje said the state government entered into a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with CCETC-Ossiomo Power to liberate the market, as it had become clear that the BEDC wasn’t ready for investment in the market, but only interested in recouping its expenses from customers in the state.
According to him, “When this government came on board, it discovered that power supply in Edo was in a sorry state. What was done was to identify the issues. The governor inaugurated a high-powered committee headed by the Deputy Governor to make some recommendations to government as to what are the challenges of electricity supply in Edo State.
“The report revealed that the distribution company, BEDC, was not up and doing in meeting its mandate. We discovered that it was not out to invest, but rather out to recoup money. Edo State at the moment gets 88MW supply of electricity. We needed more than that to industrialise. So, we had to think out of the box.”
Noting that BEDC has been resisting the change in the market, he stressed that the ministry was trying its best to explain to the power distributor that competition can only bring about improved services to Edo people.
He said, “BEDC is not happy with the fact that the system is open. We have a responsibility as a Ministry to build their confidence, informing them that the essence of opening the market is to encourage competition and improve service delivery.
“The power purchase we have with Ossiomo Power is to provide power to government institutions, such as the House of Assembly, the Government House, Secretariat Complex, hospitals, and industrial clusters. We want to electrify Benin city, to make it smart-city compliant with, the power from CCETC power plant.”
