Power Firms To Increase Grid Capacity By 96.4MW

The contract for the rehabilitation of the Jebba Hydropower Plant generating unit 2G6 to increase the total quantum of electricity generated on the national grid by 96.4 megawatts was signed by two power firms in Abuja on Wednesday.

Mainstream Energy Solutions Limited, operators of the Kainji and Jebba Hydropower Plants, signed the €92m contract with Andritz Hydro GmbH, to help increase the country’s power grid capacity.

Total quantum of power on Nigeria’s electricity grid often hovers around an average of 3,500MW to 4,000MW.

This came as the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission revealed that about 12 power projects in Nigeria were under concession.

The Managing Director, MESL, Lamu Audu, said the 2G6 unit being rehabilitated at the Jebba power plant got burnt more than a decade ago and could not be fixed by the government.

He said, “Unit 2G6 got burnt in April 2009 and several efforts by government to rehabilitate it did not succeed. But as part of our capacity recovery plan under the concession agreement with the Federal Government, we have signed the contract today.

“And it is to recover 96.4MW of the generating capacity of that unit to add to the national grid. The contract duration is two years and the cost is €92m. The funding is through loans from about three Nigerian banks.”

He noted that since the commencement of operations by MESL, the concessionaire had recovered over 472MW from both Kainji and Jebba hydropower plants, bringing the total available capacity of plants to 922MW.

He added, “In 2017 we signed the contract for the commencement of rehabilitation of the 80MW unit 1G7 in Kainji which will be inaugurated on October 4, 2020.”