FG’s Power Plants Remain Dormant after Huge Investments
The Federal Government in its quest to address the perennial power challenge in the country has over the years invested billions worth of naira in building power plants across the country to boost power generations.
However, despite the huge investments made on these power plants, many of them are yet to generate any significant megawatt to the National Grid, thus worsening the country’s power problem.
As of July 2023, the country power generation was put at about 3,970.33 megawatts, according to data collated from the National Energy System Operator; a semi autonomous unit of the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN). This is a far cry from what the country requires to meet its power needs.
According to the Association of Nigerian Electricity Distributors (ANED), Nigeria needs to generate about 33,000 Megawatts to have stable electricity.
ANED’s Executive Director, Research and Advocacy, Mr Sunday Oduntan, who spoke in Yola at a stakeholders’ workshop organised in collaboration with the MacArthur Foundation, said more needed to be done to boost power generation in the country.
Findings by Daily Trust on Sunday show that a number of these power plant projects have remained largely dormant while those which are said to have been completed are not functioning optimally or operating below expectation due to one issue or the other.
The Zungeru hydroelectric power project is the fourth hydroelectric dam in Niger State. The state already houses Shiroro, Kainji and Jebba dams that have provided electricity for the country
The Zungeru hydroelectric power dam is said to be the biggest Nigeria’s hydroelectric power dam with generating capacity of 700 megawatts of electricity.
According to NS Energy, the plan to build the Zungeru hydroelectric power plant was conceived in 1982 but the project was not executed due to the lack of funds.
The project, which started in 2013, was being handled by the China National Electrical Equipment Corporation (CNEEC) and Sinohydro Consortium. The project was reportedly expected to be ready for commissioning in the first quarter of 2023 but wasn’t commissioned until Buhari left power.
NS Energy said the project gulped about $1.3bn investment with preferential loan facility from the Export-Import Bank (Exim Bank) of China. While the Nigerian government provided 25 per cent funding for the project, the Exim Bank provided 75 per cent with low-interest loans.
Experts said the Zungeru hydroelectric power dam would produce about 2.64 billion kwh of electricity annually and would meet about 10 per cent of Nigeria’s total domestic energy needs.
The dam, if put to use, is also expected to generate huge direct and indirect job opportunities for over 2,000 citizens.
A former governor of Niger State, Abubakar Sani Bello, said during a tour of the facility in May this year that the dam would, in addition to huge electricity generation, help in controlling floods, support irrigation and other farming activities.
