President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s power sector reform is to receive a significant support from the Geregu Power Plc.
Geregu Power Plc., the first listed power generating company on the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX), plans to increase the capacity of its power station in Ajaokuta in Kogi State to 1, 300Megawatts (MW).
Independent Non-Executive Director of the company, Doron Grupper, said the company had already invested $550 million in the plant transformation.
Grupper, at the company’s 12th Annual General Meeting (AGM), at the weekend, said: “From the beginning, we invested 100 million Euro to bring the capacity to 435 MW after the purchasing of the plant.
“Right now, we have invested another 100 million Euro to bring us to 200 million Euro and including the purchasing altogether, we have invested 430 million Euro.”
Also, Geregu Power Plc has taken a significant step to align with new standards, amid attainment of ISO 9001 and 14001 certifications from the Standard Organisation of Nigeria (SON).
Grupper noted that the Tinubu administration is doing what is necessary to revive the power sector.
At the AGM, the company’s shareholders approved the Board of Directors’ N20 billion dividend payout for 2023 financial year and the re-election of two directors retiring by rotation. It also authorised the directors to fix the members of the auditors.
Chairman, Geregu Power, Mr. Femi Otedola, stated that the N20 billion dividend payout was a testament to the company’s strong financial position and dedication to delivering value to shareholders
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“This dividend declaration is not just a distribution of profits; it is a signal of our confidence in the company‘s future and our commitment to sharing our success with those who have invested in us,” Otedola said.
He described 2023 as a year of solid financial performance for the company, underpinned by strong commercial momentum and strategic operational efficiencies.
He said: “Our financial results reflect not only our resilience in the face of a challenging economic environment, but also our commitment to continuous growth and value creation.
“We experienced remarkable growth in our financial metrics, a testament to our robust business model and the effectiveness of our strategic initiatives. Our revenue saw a significant increase of 58 per cent, reaching N82.9 billion.
“This growth was driven by a combination of factors, including increased foreign exchange rates in the tariff components, energy rate & capacity charges and operational efficiencies.”
On the outlook for this year, he said the company remains cautiously optimistic despite the challenges faced in the previous year.
“In 2024, Geregu Power aims to align our business operations with the global trend toward affordable, clean and efficient energy systems.
“This involves incorporating renewable energy sources into our power generation portfolio, a move to that not only aligns with our sustainability goals but also positions us to capitalise on emerging market opportunities.
“Our commitment to innovation and sustainability, along with our strategic initiatives, position us well to navigate the challenges and seize the opportunities that lie ahead,” he said.
Chief Executive Officer of the company Akin Akinfemiwa stated that the 2023 accomplishments underscored management’s operational excellence and financial prudence.
The achievements, according to him, positioned the company as a key player within the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry (NESI) and the West African power market.
He stated that the company was looking forward to a brighter future as the management doubled down on operations and embarked on a journey to reposition itself beyond a power generation company to a total energy solutions provider.
“Our short-medium growth objectives are very clear; creating a sustainable power hub in the Ajaokuta axis with a combined capacity of about 1,300MW through aggressive acquisitions and deployment of technology to ramp up capacity with reduced volumes of natural gas as feedstock,” Akinfemiwa said.
He expressed optimism that with such growth objectives, government’s policies, including the Electricity Act of 2023, is expected to foster a viable Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry.
Akinfemiwa added: “This Act enables us to leverage our competences and capabilities to the transmission and distribution sub-sectors and promotes our drive towards our vision of becoming a total energy solutions provider.
“As you may be aware, we have started the process of engaging states in key economic areas for this purpose.”
National Coordinator, Progressive Shareholders Association (PSAN) Boniface Okezie commended the company for the N20 billion dividend payout .
Okezie, who promised shareholders support for the management, commended the company’s members of staff for the outstanding 2023 financial year results.
<<The Nation>>