The Aluminum Smelting Company of Nigeria (ALSCON) has stated that the country’s economy is recording losses of over N54.2 trillion ($177.7billion) Aluminum Smelting export yearly in Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

ALSCON is also said to have the capacity to provide in steel sector along and its value chain of over 678,400 jobs.

Mr. Friday Udoh, Chief Coordinator, Institute of Chartered Economists of Nigeria (ICEN), made the disclsoure in a statement made available to DAILY INDEPENDENT.

He said that ALSCON was designed for 193,000 tons per year (tp/y) capacity built to extract and achieve a 99.7 per cent aluminum quality from Aluminum oxide (Alumina).

According to him, this would boost export, creates employment, which is equals to 1, 237 direct and 59,963 indirect employments across its value chain.

Udoh expressed that this would further ease the economy from unnecessary pressure and earned foreign currencies, typically the recently reported decline of 33 per cent on export the country exports in 2021.

He added: “Furthermore, in consideration to the cost of power failure and the technology providers guaranteed operating conditions to enhance reliability in the running of the plant, improved safety and reliability, agrees with the concepts of dedicating two turbines on stand-by.”

According to Udoh, at the shadow of the power plant deal is Mojec International, a pre-paid Metering Company earlier engaged as a subcontractor to a 330kV, Ikot Abasi Independent Power Project (IPP) power station near ALSCON plant perceived either a third party or beneficiary if not both on the deal.

The two turbines were dedicated on stand-by to offset deficits during various checks, maintenance programmes or severe events, given the cost of outage to primary aluminum production plant and the non-existence of nationally acceptable level of risk governing the operation of key resources.

“Notwithstanding the non-available of any excess capacity, NERC issued an on-grid electricity generation license to ALSCON whose ownership was determined in 2012 Supreme Court judgment, but Federal government through its agency, the BPE blatantly refused the implementation and handing over of the plant, on a matter that have witnessed batons of litigations, since the 2004 privatisation closure to the owner, BFIG Group, an American group”.

ALSCON project was conceived in 1981, as an “Integrated Aluminium Smelter and Power Plant Project” amidst other facilities following the engagements of Messrs. W.S. Atkins for feasibility study, but not until 1986 when Ferrostaal Aktiengesellshaft / EBE of Germany in conjunction with Reynolds International of the United State of America now ALCOA.

According to the statement, “The extraction of Aluminium from the alumina is a continuous process; the potline is usually kept in production at 24 hours round the year. A smelter is supposed not to be unnecessarily production is interrupted at an hour of 4-5 hours power supply disruption, the metal in the pots will be solidified and become frozen. stopped and restarted and when the

The pot repairs and restarting estimated to worth not less than N30.58mn ($80,000) per pot, in most cases induced irreversible damage or freezing in one pot will potentially affect many other pots.

“This is just one of the economic problems; another is that the life expectancy of the pots is drastically reduced. Typically, a potline with a life circle value at 2,400 days, loss of 30% of remaining life = 2400 x 30 / 2 = 360/ days as the productivity loss is critical at, alike carbon monoxide poisoning on personnel not wearing appropriate respiratory protection gears.

“Historically, the plant production only attained a 25 per cent and the highest between 1997 and May 1999, which coincides with the first production. At the first short-down before the privatisation programme plant was placed on Preservative Mode which saw the plant tested and fired every Tuesday of the week and follows with the take-over of the plant by erstwhile owners, DHL/UC Rusal in 2007 whose highest production capacity achievement stood at 0.029 per cent daily production (11.58 installed pots utilisation) for a period of six years, 2007 to 2013 when the plant was short-down,” the statement added.