Hope rises for Taraba-based $5.8bn Mambilla hydro project
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By Obas Esiedesa
WHEN in November 2017, the Federal Government formally signed a $5.8 billion contract for the Mambilla Hydroelectric Power Project in Taraba State, it was seen as a watershed in the long history of the project that was billed to become Nigeria’s largest electricity producer with an installed capacity of 3,050 megawatts.
With the engineering, procurement and construction, EPC, contracts awarded to a consortium of Chinese companies, led by China Gezhouba Group, 85 percent of the financing for the project was to be provided by the China Exim Bank, while the Federal Government was expected to bear 15 percent of the cost. Despite the contracts agreement, work on the project has been delayed following legal issues and other bureaucratic bottlenecks.
The Federal Government, under the leadership of President Muhammadu Buhari, has launched Vision 30:30:30.
That means 30 gigawatts to be achieved with 30 per cent renewables by 2030.
This is the vision of Mr President as regards the power sector.
Coming to the Federal Ministry of Power under my leadership, I have five focal areas as my roadmap.
The first is the alignment of the whole electricity value chain – generation, transmission and distribution; the increase of power generation capacity; access to power in unserved and underserved communities; boosting of market liquidity, and completion of legacy projects like Mambilla and Zungeru hydropower; and lastly, enhancing coordination and system planning.
Our main function is to transmit electricity from generation to distribution and so we need to have a robust grid. So our priority is to ensure that all ongoing projects are completed.
Since you assumed office in May, you have harped about projects, why are projects delayed at the company?
We have looked at the issues of why some projects are not being completed. Some of the issues were right of way, import clearance and contract variation; there is also the issue of developing staff capacity. We need to train them.
So when I came, I tried to reorganize the project department and bring engineers that were posted to the regions to the Engineering department at the headquarters to supervise the projects.
It occurred at 6:00am, about 100 kilometres North-West of Dutse and paralysed activities in the town.
The police public relations officer, Jigawa State command, SP Abdu Jinjiri confirmed the incident through a statement to the media.
According to him, the accident involved a commercial Gulf 3 wagon with registration number, AA 320 TAR. He stated that the driver of the ill-fated vehicle was identified as Auwali Muhammad, who was aged 30, adding that they were travelling from Gagarawa to Kano.
He further stated that the victims rammed into a stationary DAF truck with registration number, DUT 201 X, at the Abdullahi Masalahi area.
He also stated that the two injured persons were responding to treatment in an undisclosed hospital while the corpses of the deceased had been released to their relatives for burial.
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