Nigerian govt pledges power restoration to revive Aluminium Smelter Company of Nigeria

The Nigerian Government has vowed to reconnect the Aluminium Smelter Company of Nigeria (ALSCON) to the national grid in an effort to restart the joint venture asset.

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Bolaji Tunji, the special adviser on strategic communication and media relations to Minister of Power Adebayo Adelabu, made the disclosure in a statement on Tuesday.

Mr Adelabu made the commitment when he visited the company in Ikot Abasi, Akwa Ibom State, on Monday, according to the document.

ALSCON, incorporated in 1989, was originally a joint venture project between the Nigerian Government and two foreign technical partners, Ferrostaal AG of Germany and Reynolds International Inc., US.

For over a decade, the company has been enmeshed in an ownership tussle between a Nigerian-American consortium, BFIGroup, and a Russian firm, UC RUSAL.

In July 2023, Vice President Kashim Shettima restated the determination of the Bola Tinubu administration to revive ALSCON, particularly by engaging with key stakeholders in the industry.

“These huge investments by the country have suffered from a lack of power supply in the last 27 years, as they have not been connected to the grid, and we are very much aware of the huge potential of an institution like this in the upstream, midstream and downstream conversion of aluminium,” Mr Adelabu said.

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“That can create a lot of employment for our teeming youths. That can also serve as a supplier of raw materials to every downstream aluminium company and save us huge foreign exchange for imports of these raw materials,” he added.

The minister said the company has an installed capacity of 540 MW, comprising six turbines of 90 MW each, all of which, he stated, are in a very good condition.

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He reiterated the relevance of the company in the supply of raw materials to a lot of downstream aluminium companies, noting that it will save the country millions of dollars from foreign exchange.

“The gas pipeline is working very well. There’s a power company here that is getting gas. This is less than 500 meters from here. So the gas pipeline is working well. It’s a matter of agreeing to the correct price, or the right price, with the gas company, and the turbines will be fired immediately”, he said.

Viacheslav Krylov, a development advisor at ALSCON, highlighted the challenges the company is facing, which have hampered operations since the presidential directives in July 2024 to restart operations in the plant.

“The current energy options at the plant are therefore completely inadequate to restart the plant,” he said.

“Of significant importance is the wheeling of excess power generation to the grid from ALSCON. This would improve the daily national grid capacity and revenue generation for the company’s sustenance,” he added.