Federal Govt Flags Off 1.25m Metering Project With $500m World Bank Funding

The federal government is set to distribute 1.25 smart meters to electricity consumers under the Phase 2 of the National Mass Metering Programme (NMMP).

The special adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Energy, Olu A. Verheijen, who made this known yesterday, said the procurement process for the phase involving 1.25 million pre-paid meters, is beginning this month.

Verheijen reiterated the federal government’s commitment to delivering reliable and cleaner electricity to the Nigerian people and businesses

“In the first step to fulfilling our campaign promise to end estimated billing, we are launching Phase Two of the ambitious National Mass Metering Programme to end estimated billing which Nigerians have complained about for decades and ensuring cost reflective tariff.

“We are embarking on reforms that will improve the performance of Distribution Companies as we continue our trajectory to cost reflective tariffs,” she said.

Recall that the NMMP was launched in August 2020, in line with a presidential directive to ensure that all Nigerians receiving electricity from the national grid are metered.

The project was expected to deploy six million  meters nationwide in three Phases 0, 1 and 2 by the end of 2023, to reduce the number of unmetered electricity consumers in Nigeria, the federal government said.

However, LEADERSHIP checks reveal that the project was derailed as paucity of funds stalled the execution of Phase 1, which planned to distribute four million meters. Under Phase Zero of the metering project, only about 900,000 meters were deployed.

Speaking further, the project manager for the World Bank under the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), Engr. Tukur Musa Bamalli,

said the bid process for the procurement of the 1.25 meters ended at 12 noon, yesterday with a total 47 bidders comprising 38 physical and nine online submissions.

According to him, the project is funded under a $500 million World Bank loan comprising $155 million for the procurement and supply of smart meters and $345 million as loan to the 11 distribution companies for the upgrade of the distribution network in the country.

Bamalli, also an assistant general manager at TCN, who spoke at the Closing of Bids Submission and Opening Ceremony, held in Abuja yesterday, said the timeline for completion of the project is 18 months.

According to him, the bid process was completely internationally competitive and open to both local meter manufacturers and foreign companies.

He said the target is that by the first quarter of 2025, the meters would have been supplied. “We expect the meters to start coming in from June 2024.”

On the level of involvement of local meter manufacturers, Bamalli said there is a 15 per cent preference level of local meter manufacturers above the foreign suppliers.

“We have a 15 per cent preference for local companies. That means that if a local manufacturers’ bid is higher by 15 per cent than the foreign bidder, the local bidder will be preferred above the foreign bidder.”

Recall that the local meter manufacturers had taken the federal government to court seeking the suspension of the programme and the ban on foreign companies from participating in the bidding process, saying they were not being fairly represented.

However, the court case was withdrawn on Tuesday, following the  intervention of the minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu at a stakeholder meeting held at the Federal Ministry of Power.

On pricing, Engr Bamalli said the price of the meters will be determined after the evaluation of the bids. “The bids have just been submitted and are being opened, so the price will be determined based on the submission of the bidders. We are hoping that the cost of the meters will come down so that the discos can supply meters to Nigerians at lower prices,” he said.

He explained that the four million meters under Phase 1 was not provided because the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) did not provide the N200 billion funding required to execute the phase. He however assured that the Presidency is currently making efforts to resuscitate phase 2 of the project.

“We have just closed the submission and opening ceremony for supply and installation of smart meters. We have just received the bids.

“We are procuring 1.25 million meters funded by the World Bank to be supplied to the 11 distribution companies.

“This programme is Phase 2, we started in february 2021 and it now became effective in february 2023. Very soon the contract will be signed to procure the meters for onward distribution.

“The supply and installation of the smart meters is expected to be concluded in 18 months from the signing of the contract”