TCN Threatens To Disconnect Power From Ajaokuta Steel Company Over N33 Billion Debt

The Ajaokuta Steel Company Limited (ASCL) has been issued a disconnection notice for failing to comply with the market rules of the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN).

TCN, in a statement released on Wednesday through its market operator, Edmund Eje, revealed that ASCL has accumulated a debt of N33.71 billion as of November 2023.

It noted further that ASCL’s outstanding debt includes N30,849,749,981.01 for energy and capacity delivered by Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading PLC (NBET), as well as ₦2,221,252,148.48 owed to service providers.

The TCN claimed to have previously notified ASCL on March 20, 2023, regarding its non-compliance with the Market Rules and requested corrective actions within a specified period. This notification was published in three national newspapers, namely The Nation, Daily Sun, and This Day.

Despite the minister of power’s interventions, as reported by TCN, the enforcement actions were temporarily halted to provide ASCL with an opportunity to address its defaults.

The TCN, however, regretted that the issue of non-compliance by the ASCL still persists.

“To avoid disconnection, TCN said, ASCL is required to settle all outstanding invoices and provide an adequate “Bank Guarantee of N70,177,727.39 for MO’s invoice and N320,000,000.00 for NBET’s invoice, within fourteen [14] days from the date of this notice”.

“Failure to rectify these defaults within the specified period will lead to the disconnection of ASCL’s network from the National Grid, in accordance with section 45 of the Market Rules,” TCN said.

The statement added: “Furthermore, should the defaults still remain unresolved after 30 business days of disconnection, the Market Operator will proceed to terminate ASCL’s Market Participation Agreement and escalate the non-compliance matter to the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) for Business Continuity Regulation to commence.”