In advance of assessing the amount of electricity the 700 megawatt Zungeru Hydroelectric Power Plant contributes to the national grid, the Federal Government said on Sunday that testing has started on the project.
In addition, it declared that the Niger State-based $1.3 billion project was linked to the national grid, refuting assertions made by some that the plant was not.
This was revealed by Adebayo Adelabu, the Minister of Power, in response to queries from the industry in a document that was made public in Abuja on Sunday by Bolaji Tunji, his Special Adviser for Strategic Communication and Media Relations.
With a 700MW capacity, the Zungeru Hydroelectric Power facility is a significant infrastructural undertaking and the second-largest hydroelectric facility in Nigeria, behind the Kainji Dam.
Situated beside the town of Zungeru in Niger State, the facility is situated along the Kaduna River and has the capacity to produce 2.64 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity yearly, which roughly accounts for 10% of Nigeria’s domestic energy requirements.
The building partners of the facility, which offers capabilities for fish breeding, flood control, and irrigation water management, are a group of Chinese companies, Sinohydro Corporation Limited and China National Electric Engineering Company.
According to industry analysts, the project is anticipated to significantly increase Nigeria’s electricity generation and support regional economic development.
In response to questions on Sunday, Adelabu stated that the facility was finished and that the concession procedure was also finished.
“The concessionaire, Mainstream Energy Limited, who currently operates the hydroelectric power plants at Kainji and Jabba, has received the payments that were due to them and has officially taken over this plant,” he stated.
The concessionaire is currently receiving technical handover from the Chinese experts who constructed the Zungeru hydroelectric power facility. This is due to a one-year defect liability, which requires these contractors to be present on the project site to guarantee that they can resolve any issues that arise within that time frame.
They are putting in a lot of effort, along with the concessionaire, the Ministry of Power, and the Bureau for Public Enterprise, to make sure that the plant’s technical handover is completed.
“I can inform you that the testing phase commenced yesterday, along with the plant’s electricity output, and that it will continue for approximately a week or two before full production resumes. Furthermore, I have solid proof that the Zungeru power plant is capable of electricity evacuation. Therefore, the claim that it is not connected to the national grid is wholly false.
Remember how the Federal Government announced in May 2023 that it had connected the Zungeru Hydroelectric Power Plant to the national grid, increasing Nigeria’s power generation? That information was reported by The PUNCH.
At a send-forth ceremony held in Abuja for him and the former Minister of State for Power, Goddy Jedy-Agba, power sector officials had confirmed the plant’s connection to the grid. Abubakar Aliyu was the former Minister of Power.
“I’d like to announce that the Zungeru Hydroelectric Power Plant is now operational. With 700 MW, we have now connected to the grid. We’ve received information about the testing, which began yesterday night, including a picture of the metres indicating that the 700MW has been connected to the grid.
Remember that we were there for the past two weeks along with members of the National Assembly, including the Senate Committee on Power’s chairman. Aliyu had said, “We all went to the location, and we are now powering the grid.