FG Partners Chinese Firms for $5.8bn Power Plant Project

FG Partners Chinese Firms for $5.8bn Power Plant Project

The Federal Government on Friday signed an agreement for the construction of the 3,050 megawatts Mambilla Hydroelectric Power Plant worth $5.79bn with a consortium of three Chinese firms.

Documents reveal that the project which is being constructed in the north-eastern state of Taraba, is expected to be completed in six years.

Punch reports that the Chinese firms will take major responsibility for funding of the power plant, with China Exim Bank and other Chinese lenders expected to provide 85 per cent of the contract sum amounting to $4.92bn, while Nigeria will put forward the remaining 15 per cent amounting to $868.87m.

The said companies are China Gezhouba Group Corporation, Sinohydro Corporation Limited and the CGCOC Group Company Limited.

A breakdown of the project shows it would include four large dams (Nya, Sumsum, Nghu and Api Weir), two underground power houses of 12 units of 250MW each, two (numbers of) 330KV of 700km transmission lines to Markudi and Jalingo, 120km of access roads connecting the project site and nearby communities, as well as the resettlement of an estimated 100,000 impacted persons.

This landmark partnership follows a decision by the Federal Executive Council on August 30 this year, approving the sum of $5,792,497,062 to get the project underway 40 years after it was initiated.

Signing on behalf of government, the Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, said the project had opened a huge opportunity for the country to harness its hydroelectric potential for electricity and irrigation purposes, adding that when completed, the 3,050MW plant would completely alter the dynamics in Nigeria’s power sector.

“This project is a new dawn for Nigeria’s power diversity and energy mix. This project will give us the opportunity for energy security; it will give us the opportunity to comply with our Paris Climate Change Agreement because it will be delivering renewable energy,” Fashola stated.