Zungeru hydroelectric plant completed, says power minister

Abubakar Aliyu, minister of power, says the 700 megawatts Zungeru Hydroelectric power project has been completed and the power generated from the plant has been added to the the national grid.

Aliyu said this will significantly fill the gap in the nation’s electricity demands.

According to the ministry the completion and generation of power from the Zungeru Hydroelectric Power plant is a milestone achievement of the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari which demonstrated a commitment to further improving power supply in the country.

On Thursday the Minister said:

 “I want to say that on Thursday 25 May 2023 the Zungeru Hydroelectric Power Plant became a reality. On Thursday we have added to the grid 700MW. The testing started last on Wednesday 24 May and information has reached us, with a pictorial view of the meters showing that the 700MW has gone on the grid.”

On his part, consultant for the project, Johnson Adewumi of Decrown West Africa Company Limited said that “The combined Test Protocol for Zungeru HPP was carried out yesterday till the early morning of today. Generation with load started at 7am on 25/5/2023 and maintained till 1am today 26/5/2023 under the control of NCC and with TCN with Engineers of Federal Ministry of Power and Mainstream Energy in attendance. The plant was stable, no unusual vibration and all monitoring equipment produced results consistent with technical specification. The plant achieved peak capacity of 718MW. Good value.”

The Zungeru Hydroelectric Power Plant is the largest Hydroelectric Dam to be built in Nigeria since the commissioning of Kainji dam in 1968. It is situated on River Kaduna and has a total storage capacity of 11,700 million cubic meters of water. The Power Plant consists of four (4) turbines each with 175MW making a total installed capacity of 700MW. The economic value of the power plant is over N132 Billion per year based on average annual production of 2,460 Gigawatt-Hours (2,460GWh) of renewable energy.

The dam’s construction was based on a new engineering technology utilizing the Roller-compacted Concrete (RCC) which has ensured a shortened completion of the core civil construction period by over 2 years while the Electro-mechanical components especially the 4-units Francis turbines are from the reputable world class Original Equipment Manufacturers, General Electric.

The Chairman Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), Sanusi Garba said “We are pleased to report that the technical commissioning of the Zungeru power plant has not only added 700MW of clean generation capacity but significantly diversified our generation mix and enhanced the nation’s security of supply.”

“In compliance with the sector requirements under the reform agenda, the Ministry has acquired a generation licence for NERC for the special purpose vehicle of the project. A market participation agreement has also been executed with the Market Operator thus ensuring that the power plant is set for commercial operation,” he added. 

Zungeru Hydroelectric power plant is a $1.2 billiontyh investment by the Nigerian Government. The Hydroelectric plant will expand baseload generation in the country and enhance the grid’s ability to take Renewable Energy.

Apart from providing more power to Nigerians, the project is currently providing employment for many Nigerians and will provide flood control, irrigation, as well as water supply. The dam will also enhance energy security by reducing the challenge of using using gas for power generation.