The government has confirmed preferred and reserve bidders for seven of the ten power plants that make up the National Integrated Power Project (NIPP). Approval for the remaining three was halted by a court action brought by local company Ethiope Energy. With a combined price of $5.8bn for all ten facilities, the sale revealed a higher valuation than many expected, demonstrating the draw of the potentially highly lucrative sector as well as the possibility of consolidation by some upstream players looking for reliable long-term gas offtakers.