President
Goodluck Jonathan is expected to turn the sod today for work to start fully on
the construction of 700 megawatts (MW) Hydroelectric Power Plant in Zungeru,
Niger State.
The funding
for this enormous project will be provided by the Federal Government and Exim
Bank of China in the ratio of 25:75 respectively. Contract terms stipulate that
Nigeria will provide its funding contribution which stands at about $309 million.
The plant is
to be built by Chinese consortium, CNEEC-Sinohydro consortium and work on it is
expected to be completed by the year 2018. The project has been estimated to
will cost 163 billion naira ($1.04bn) at completion after review by French firm
Coyne et Bellier in 2008.
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| Hajiya Zainab Kuchi |
The
Minister of State for Power, Hajiya Zainab Kuchi at the contract signing
ceremony early this year, claimed that the money is already domiciled within
the Ministry of Power. She also noted that the Ministry of Finance was to
finalize all legal paper works to activate the 75% funding from the Exim Bank
of China.
“The
feasibility studies and engineering design was reviewed in 2008 by Coyne et
Bellier and a report submitted which recommended that an installed capacity of
700MW consisting of 4×175MW plants units representing
downward review of the initial capacity of 950MW should be adopted, the
recommendation was accepted by the ministry.” She said.
Chief Representative
of CNEEC-Sinohydro consortium in Nigeria, Ju Shiquan, told reporters over the
weekend in Abuja, that the smooth take-off of work at the hydro plant had been
concluded, hence, the official turning of the sod by the President today. It is
expected that the credit for the project will be repaid through revenues
generated by the project following its completion.
This is a
step in the right direction as Nigeria has been battling with power problems in
her bid to become one of the top 20 economies in the world by 2020.
The
generation at the beginning of the year stood at 4500MW but various unconfirmed
reports have claimed there have been drop in generation during the course of
the year.
We hope
President Jonathan will be able to fulfill the promise made by his special
assistant, Dr. Doyin Okupe that his administration would have put an end to the
power problem by 2015. This plant won’t be part of the ‘solution by 2015’
though.
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FG to begin construction of 700MW Hydro Plant in Zungeru today