A USD 540 million contract has been awarded to the Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria (SPDC) for two major gas-fired projects at the Afam Power plant near Port Harcourt. The contract from the National Power Authority (Nepa) is in line with the Nigerian Independent Power Producer Program that is set to break Nepa’s monopoly by licensing local and foreign private investors. The contracts to refurbish, operate and transfer the Afam I-IV plant and to lease, operate and transfer the Afam V plant will involve Shell taking over the existing assets in 2002 and operating the Afam power plant for a period of 15 years. The projects will be undertaken in conjunction with Eskom Enterprises of South Africa who will act as operations and maintenance contractor to Shell. Eskom will handle the daily running of the plant and supervise the overall contract and project management of the construction phase.
