• Friday, March 29, 2024
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BusinessDay

$36m Jebba Power Plant rehabilitation to bring additional 96.4mw

FG begins privatisation of 10 power plants

As part of efforts to boost supply of electricity by 92.4 megawatt (mw) and promote clean energy, the Federal Government plans to spend $36 million (N14.18bn at N394/$) on Jebba Power Plant.

The project is to be financed by Access Bank plc, one of Nigeria’s biggest financial institutions, according sources.

According to Lemu Audu, managing director/chief executive of Mainstream Energy Solutions Limited, the contract has been awarded to Andritz, an Austrian company that built the plant. Jebba Power Plant was concessioned to Mainstream Energy Solutions Limited in 2013/14 during former President Goodluck Jonathan’s regime.

“The technology group, Andritz, which built the plant, has been commissioned to modernise the unit at Jebba hydro power plant,” he told BusinessDay, saying the effort is part of the company’s capacity recovery programme the Federal Government is supporting.

The money, he said, is going to be used for the rehabilitation of the 96.4mw plant that has been out of operations since 2009, and the contract would be for two years.

Mainstream Energy Solutions is licenced to operate the Kainji and Jebba hydroelectric power plants through a concession agreement with the Government of Nigeria.

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The Jebba hydro power plant was originally commissioned in 1985. It is equipped with six fixed blade propeller-type turbines with a generating capacity of 96.4mw each. The total installed capacity of the power plant is 578.4mw. Five of the units have been generating power but the sixth has been out of operation since it was gutted by fire in April 2009.

The new equipment will repower the hydro plant and boost the energy production of Nigeria, specifically clean energy, which is energy that comes from renewables, zero emission source that does not pollute the atmosphere when used, as well as energy saved, efficiently measured.

Nigeria has an installed capacity of 12,522mw (2,380mw of that being hydropower), on any given day it only generates around 4,000mw. Jebba has not only been affected by one downed turbine, but also by water management constraints on the River Niger dam.

The objective of the general rehabilitation programme will be to extend equipment service life for the next 40 years, improve reliability and ensure compliance of the frequency and voltage regulation with the national grid code.

Andritz will supply and service the entire electro-mechanical and hydro-mechanical equipment for unit 2G6, including a 96.4mw turbine, a 103MVA generator, transformer, outdoor switchyard and accessory equipment and the intake gate.

In recent times, the government has taken several initiatives to enhance power generation in the country. One of such initiatives is the Presidential Power Initiative, which Siemens is handling and is expected to ensure that the generating capacity of the country hits 25,000mw by 2023.