Mambilla hydro electricity dam in Borno State, in the works for 44 years, is scheduled for completion next month to add 3,000 mega watts (mw) to the national grid to improve power supply.
A team from Global Business Resources USA, a consortium of international investors, has also visited Nigeria to progress talks on the establishment of two 50mw solar-powered plants in Kumbotso, Kano State and Karu in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) at a cost of $106 million.
Minister of State for Power, Mohammed Wakil, told TheNiche in Abuja that the federal government, in the implementation of power privatisation programme, has carried out “the most ambitious and very successful” power sector reform in Africa.
He said President Goodluck Jonathan has “broken the jinx of the Mambilla hydro dam” which is worth about $7 billion.
The project has been on the drawing board since 1970 to generate over 3,000 mw, “about the biggest” on the African continent, he added, and Jonathan has given “marching orders” for its completion next month.
“The Mambilla hydro dam has reached about 95 per cent completion. This is in addition to the new transmission lines across the zone. For us in Borno State, our experience with the Jonathan administration is the best since the state was created.
“We are pushing ahead with the 330kv transmission sub station to be located in the region. And the Federal Executive Council (FEC) has just approved another transformer for the state.
“This is the first time an addition to the transmission capacity of Borno State is been made since 1976,” he stressed.
Wakil, who recently toured power projects in Borno State despite security challenges, said he visited the sub station on Baga Road in Maiduguri where the newly approved transformer will be located.
He also visited the site of the 330KV transmission sub station on the dangerous Damboa Road.
Work is temporarily suspended at the site because of security problems, but Wakil promised that it will resume when security is beefed up at power installations across Borno.
He had earlier met the officials of Global Business Resources in Bridge Port, Miami, United States.
Their mission in Nigeria is to help develop actionable renewable energy generation strategy, using solar power.
The plan includes Geographic Information System (GIS) mapping for renewable energy – as done in Ghana, South Africa, Kenya, and Ethiopia – to facilitate rural electrification through Public Private Partnership (PPP).
The aim is to fast track rural electrification in the next five years, leveraging on resources from the Power Africa Initiative.
An official of the Power Ministry, Abayomi Adebisi, said Nigerians are excited about the initiative, and urged genuine investors to use the vast resources of oil, gas, wind, sun, and biomass in the country to generate power, especially now that the sector has been privatised.
James Nicholas, who led the Global Business Resources team, promised prompt delivery of the projects, saying that Africa has the most promising solar potential in terms of cost.
