Nigeria may earn over N1tr from Zungeru power plant

Nigeria may, in the next 30 years, earn over N1.058 trillion from Zungeru hydropower plant, as the concessionaire yesterday, moved to site to connect the newly completed facility to the national grid.

In addition to the expected over N135 billion payment for the concession, the organisation, through its subsidiary, Penstock Energy, is to pay nothing less than $30 million yearly concession fee, as well as other taxes and royalties for the period of 30 years.

The fee alone with an extra $6 million is to push government earnings for the facility to over $1 billion, translating to about N1 trillion, going by official exchange rate.

Speaking at the inspection of the facility in Minna yesterday, Executive Director, Corporate Services at Mainstream Energy Solutions Limited, Usman Umar, stressed the need for Nigeria and other African countries to shift attention to clean energy.

Disclosing that the company would run the Zungeru plant for the next 30 years, Umar said existing 14,000 megawatts hydropower potential in the country needs to come on stream, adding that leverage on clean energy would provide cheaper electricity for Nigeria and other African nations amid the extant energy crisis and population expansion.

The Federal Government had, on Tuesday, handed over Zungeru power plant, built through a Chinese loan to Mainstream, stressing that the company, which was the preferred bidder, had met necessary statutory obligations.

Umar said the monetary value that the government would get from the plant is nothing to be compared with the multiplier impact on employment, industrial and economic growth.

He noted that the experience of the company, deployed in optimising the value of Kainji and Jebba Dam to about 90 per cent, meant that it would surpass expectations on Zungeru.

The executive director said while efforts are being made on electricity generation, the government is doing everything possible to ensure that the grid performs optimally.

His words: “The attention of the world is shifting to clean energy. It is cheaper for us to generate our electricity from hydro than gas, which requires another transport means to get to the plant.

“We know there are some deficiencies regarding the grid, but that’s being addressed. There is a constant effort and expansion to ensure that the grid takes more power.

“Several other generation projects are coming up. We have more hydro potential. Even for us as a company, we still have more potential.”