Buhari Embarks On $5.8b Hydro-Power Plant After Dumping Jonathan’s Nuclear Power Plan

The current administration of President Muhammadu Buhari is poised to start building of a $5.8 billion hydro-power plant in the eastern Mambila region in 2018.

The project will kick off if the government agrees on loan terms with China’s Export-Import Bank who will finance the project.

The project is expected to add a paltry 3,050-megawatt of power to Nigeria’s insufficient power generation and transmission.

It could be recalled that President Buhari, on resumption of office in 2015, had cancelled the four $80 billion nuclear power plants meant to have been built by Russia’s Rosatom company.

Former president, Mr Goodluck Ebele Jonathan had signed a pact with Rosatom to build 4 nuclear power plants that was to cost some $80 billion (£54.7bn, €75.7bn).

Nigeria had signed the agreement to cooperate on the design, construction, operation and decommissioning of the four atomic power facilities to solve Nigeria’s electricity challenges once and for all.

The first nuclear plant was slated to be operational by 2025.

Speaking on the latest development, the Minister for Power, Works and Housing, Mr Babatunde Fashola said:

“We hope to break ground this year if we can conclude the financing… Contracts are in place. We are good to go.”

Fashola had said in August, 2017, that the Chinese lender would finance 85 percent of the cost, and the Nigerian government the rest. 

“China Civil Engineering Corp. will build the 3,050-megawatt power plant over five years, and the facility will include four dams measuring 50 meters (164 feet) to 150 meters high, and 700 kilometers (435 miles) of transmission lines,” he said.

Nigeria, battling with daily power cuts, is seeking to expand electricity generation to drive growth after the economy contracted in 2016 for the first time in 25 years. 

The federal government expects power-production capacity to increase to 8,600 megawatts in a year from 7,000 megawatts currently, kudos to the past administration which kick-started a host of power projects.

Nigeria, with its 180 million population, still trails by far behind South Africa.

South Africa has an electricity-generating capacity of more than 40,000 megawatts though over 100 million smaller than Nigeria.

Also, to add a little boost to Nigeria’s electricity output, transformers with a combined capacity of 1,400 megawatts will be deployed across the country.

The government is looking to partner with private companies to invest in mini-grid projects and generate an additional 3,000 megawatts of electricity over five years, according to Fashola.