FG Eyes 780MW Clean Energy from Three Hydropower Plants in Niger, Taraba, Gombe

Emmanuel Addeh in Abuja

The national power grid is expected to be boosted by about 780MW when the nearly-completed Zungeru hydroelectricity power project in Niger state, the Kashimbila project in Taraba and the Dadin-kowa dam facility in Gombe begin operation, the federal government disclosed yesterday.

Speaking on the fourth day of the Fifth National Council on Power (NACOP) meeting in Abuja, the Minister of Power, Mr. Abubakar Aliyu, explained that the projects which are at least 97 per cent completed would help sort out some of the deficit currently being experienced by Nigerians. The minister noted that the council was formed to enhance the building of synergy in policy formulation and implementation which would catapult the nation to the next level of industrial development.

Aliyu stressed that the power sector was undergoing various reforms that aim at improving the sector, with government presently investing in power infrastructure, most especially in the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) through various interventions.
According to him, some of these interventions were being funded by international organisations like the World Bank, African Development Bank and a host of others to strengthen the national grid.

He added that as for government-to-government collaboration, a deal between Nigeria and Germany resulted in a loan agreement which was provided on concessionary terms through Siemens Company to rehabilitate the Nigeria Electricity Supply Industry (NESI) and the value chain in the industry.
“Through the agreement with Siemens, orders had been made for the purchase of 10 morbid power transformers and 10 mobile substations. The 10 morbid power transformers to be situated across the country have started arriving,” the minister added.

The Nigerian government, he pointed out, had also developed the National Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Policy with the accompanying vision 30:30:30 which aims at achieving 30,000MW of electricity by the year 2030 with renewable energy contributing 30 per cent of the energy mix.

“Renewable energy is taking the centre stage of the ongoing reforms in the power sector in Nigeria as it is visible from the ongoing and completed projects like Zungeru Hydroelectricity power project which is at 97 per cent completion and it is expected to provide 700 megawatts to the national grid.
“Kashimbila hydroelectricity project is providing 40 megawatts to the national grid and Dadin-kowa dam is providing 40 megawatts to the national grid among others,” he stated.

He called on all participants to appraise recommendations of the technical experts’ submission on various memoranda carefully to enable them arrive at objective conclusion that will improve the activities in the power sector.
Reminding the audience that it was going to be the last council for this administration, Aliyu assured that all the recommendations reached at the event would be forwarded to Federal Executive Council (FEC) for approval.
In addition, he pledged to ensure the kick-starting of the implementation process of successful approvals before the expiration of President Muhammadu Buhari’ administration.

In his remarks, the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Muhammad Bello, stressed that the importance of power remains at the heart of industrial growth and drives the acceleration of small and medium businesses.
He noted that the current administration’s efforts to boost power supply had led to the growth of the entire value chain of the electricity supply industry.
Calling for synergy between operators and industry players, the minister added that the sector still needed more investment, especially by the organised private sector.

According to him, revamping the Nigerian economy was mostly dependent on an efficient and functional energy sector, explaining that the FCT was continuing to engage private investors to set up shop to assemble solar panels, inverters and other components in the city.