UC Rusal, the Russian firm with 85 percent stake in Nigeria’s Aluminium Smelter Company of Nigeria (ALSCON) in Ikot Abasi, Akwa Ibom State, has decried the lack of progress in resolving the power supply shortage that has crippled the company’s operations, forcing it to shut down more than two years now.
The company says it invested about $160 million in the modernisation of the smelter, lamenting that it has been lacking “reliable gas supply.”
According to Anastasia Voronkova, the company’s media officer, the plant has suffered losses worth about $60 million due to disruptions in gas supply, adding that for now “there is no progress in resolving this issue of providing the plant with gas supply.”
Voronkova maintained that plans to a back-up gas pipeline could not be constructed earlier than 2016, thus prolonging plans by the company to return to productivity.
“The possibility to connect ALSCON’s gas-fired power plant to the national power grid is another subject of long term talks between the Federal Government and ALSCON. Unfortunately,
Rusal decries lack of progress over ALSCON’s gas supply challengethe dialogue has become long-running, despite preliminary agreements and obligations, the authorities do not provide enough support to connect the plant to the national grid,” she said in a statement made available to BusinessDay.
She said the provision of a second gas pipeline in addition to that of Nigerian Gas Company being its main partner would serve as an important backup power supply source for the production facility in case of supply interruptions, adding that it has no intention “to change the supplier and is hoping to solve the issue in the framework of the current deal with Nigerian Gas Company.”
However, ALSCON maintained that despite the challenges, the company would continue to meet its social obligations to the host communities, adding that it is currently providing about 200 plant staff with regular salaries despite the smelter being “run at a loss,” provides free electricity to more than 30,000 residents of Ikot Abasi and pays attention to local health needs of the population by supporting medical health facilities in the area.
It adds that it provides clean drinking water to the local community and had inaugurated 15 water projects for use by the community.
