Hope is rising in Nigeria over the possibility of commissioning the country’s first wind farm project more than a decade after it was started with delays caused by periods of abandonment.
The 10 megawatts (mw) project, in Katsina State, comes with 37 turbines currently being test-run to supply the transmission lines the Federal Government built last year.
“It would be commissioned this month to supply electricity,” ᴏᴍᴀsᴏʀᴏ ᴀʟɪ ᴏᴠɪᴇ™ who owns Twitter handle @ovienews with over 5 thousand followers, tweeted on 2nd March 2021.
Nigeria completes its first wind farm project after 12 years, and abandonment along the way. The 10MW project comes with 37 turbines currently being test-run to supply the transmission lines Federal Govt built last year. It would be commissioned this month to supply electricity. pic.twitter.com/oIseERQd6f
— ᴏᴠɪᴇ ᴀʟɪ ᴏnovwo-ᴏᴍᴀsᴏʀᴏ ™☤🇳🇬 (@OvieNews) March 2, 2021
Replying to the tweet, Arinola Ifeoma Awokoya said she was pleased immensely with this.
“This is truly going to be a year of big wins for Nigeria. All the projects of this FGN are all coming to completion. We must guard our security now seriously.”
Yes ma Katsina pic.twitter.com/JUAlPGvgWZ
— ᴏᴠɪᴇ ᴀʟɪ ᴏnovwo-ᴏᴍᴀsᴏʀᴏ ™☤🇳🇬 (@OvieNews) March 2, 2021
In a piece titled ‘Katsina wind farm makes headway for Nigeria’s abandoned projects’ ESI-Africa, an online power journal of Africa, published on the 18th March 2021, the journal said the 10mw Katsina wind farm project has been completed and will be commissioned later this month as confirmed by the Ministry of Power in the Federal Government.
Earlier, on 11th March, Sale Mamman, the minister of power tweeted “The 10mw Katsina Wind Farm Project set for commissioning later this month has 37 up and functioning turbines, part of our efforts towards investing in renewable energy.”
The Administration of President @MBuhari is committed to the completion of abandoned infrastructure projects. The 10MW Katsina Wind Farm Project set for commissioning later this month has 37 up and functioning turbines, part of our efforts towards investing in renewable energy. pic.twitter.com/1v2sF1bAwe
— Engr. Sale Mamman (@EngrSMamman) March 11, 2021
Nevertheless, the wind energy potential in Nigeria is modest, with annual average speeds of about 2.0 metres per second (m/s) at the coastal region and 4.0 m/s at heights of 30m in the far northern region of the country.
This is based on wind energy resource mapping carried out by the Ministry of Science and Technology. Wind speed of up to 5m/s was recorded in the most suitable locations, which shows only a moderate and local potential for wind energy.
The highest wind speeds can be expected in the Sokoto region, the Jos Plateau, Gembu, and Kano-Funtua.
From the study, Maiduguri, Lagos, and Enugu also indicated fair wind speeds, sufficient for energy generation by wind farms.
Apart from these sites, other promising regions with usable wind potential are located on the Nigeria western shoreline (Lagos Region) and partly on the Mambila Plateau.
