The Federal Government says plans are on to evacuate the dormant 30 Megawatts (MW) in the Kashimbilla hydropower plant to the national grid.
The Kashimbilla hydropower plant has an installed capacity of 40 megawatts but only 10 megawatts is presently being evacuated.
Mr Bolaji Tunji, Special Adviser to the Minister of Power on Strategic Communications and Media Relations, quoted the minister as saying this in a statement he issued in Abuja on Thursday.
Tunji quoted the minister as saying this while on an inspection tour of the power plant in Taraba State and the 56 Kilo Meter (km) and the 132 Kilo Volt (KV) transmission line from Yandev to Makurdi in Benue State.
The minister said that the Kashimbilla power plant with its state-of- the art technology which includes Automated Tracking and Monitoring System (SCADA) was working effectively.
According to the minister, once the evacuation infrastructure is completed, the four turbines would evacuate the 40 megawatts, effectively.
”This inspection visit is to ensure accelerated completion of the facilities in order to ensure that the remaining 30 MW is evacuated.
” We have begun the process and we have the assurance of the contractors that this will be completed within the next six months to one year.
“The moment we are done with the evacuation infrastructure the stranded 30 MW will be evacuated, the entire four turbines will be working at full capacity of 10 megawatts each to make 40.
” And this will increase the generation capacity that will be evacuated into the national grid”, he said.
Adelabu who also visited the 132/33KV substation in Amua, Gboko Local Government Area of Benue said the four turbines installed in Kashimbilla power plant were working perfectly and generating 100 per cent of installed capacity.
The minister said the Kashimbilla project was in two phases, adding that phase one which has been completed includes 2×60 Mega Volt Ampere (MVA)substations in Takum and Wukari local government areas.
He said it also includes 2×7.5 MVA sub-station in Donga Local Government Area of Taraba.
He said the phase two of the project include the construction of the 56km transmission lines, construction of 132/33KVA substation in Yandev, Benue where the generated power will be wheeled to the national grid.
”It also includes 330KVA substation in Makurdi, construction of 2 x 60MVA substation in Ugba in Benue including the associated switching stations at Zaki Biam, Anyii and Buruku in Benue.
The minister, while expressing displeasure that 30 megawatts was stranded, said that it was not in the country’s economic interest, hence the need to ensure accelerated completion of the evacuation.
”The project is in line with the ”Renewed Hope Agenda” of President Bola Tinubu in ensuring that electricity is taken to every nook and cranny of the country, ”he said.
According to him more efforts will be put in place towards improving power generating capacity across the plants.
“We will also work on strengthening and expanding the capacity of the transmission grid so that as more power is generated, they can actually be wheeled to the grid.
”We are also working on the infrastructure, so that Distribution Companies (DisCos) have enough power to distribute to electricity consumers.” he said.
Also speaking, Mr Sule Abdulaziz, Managing Director of Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) said that efforts were on to ensure that the 132KV transmission line from Yandev to Apir in Markudi, is completed.
“By the time that transmission line is ready, we can evacuate all the power from the Kashimbilla plant,” he said.
Speaking on the 2nd phase of the evacuation, Mr Abubarka Ali-Dapshima, Director, Renewable and Rural Access Department, Ministry of Power said its scope was to evacuate the 40MW completely to the grid.
“The beautiful thing about this project is that it is a renewable energy project which has the ability to mitigate the issues of climate change
”The new addition is expected to facilitate the development of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Taraba and Benue States.
”Surrounding communities in Taraba State especially those displaced by the Dam construction are already benefitting from the 10 megawatts currently being distributed directly from the 40 megawatts capacity plant, ”he said.