The Niger Delta Power Holding Company has sought the support of the Ministry of Water Resources to develop small & medium hydro projects in Nigeria.
The MD/CEO of the Niger Delta Power Holding Company (NDPHC) Ltd, Mr. Chiedu Ugbo stated this while on a courtesy visit to the Minister of Water Resources in Abuja with his management team.
He explained that the company was looking at setting up small hydro plants on existing dams in the country, especially those in the northern part of the country because of the quality of electricity in the area.
He noted that though the company has ten power generation plants with eight linked to the national grid with about 4,099 mega watts, most are located in the southern part of the country and are unable to generate optimally due to poor transmission and distribution infrastructure.
“We have 4,099MW but not all are taken in the grid due to systemic problems. If you check today, we have 500-700MW on the grid. That is not to say our machines are bad, it is because of transmission and distribution challenges,” Mr Ugbo said
“In those areas too, NDPHC has done significant work. We pride ourselves as having invested about 50 percent of the transmission assets in the country. We have invested heavily in transmission and distribution assets all over the country, in every state,” Mr Ugbo stated.
The company also invested in solar home systems, starting from not just underserved but un-served communities.
According to Mr Ugbo, the company did 20,000 in the first phase called beyond the grid programme and started the second phase in Kazuare Emirate in Bauchi State with 100,000 connections.
“But having developed our thermal plants reasonably, we thought it is time to move to the next phase of our project development and that phase is where after optimizing gas resources, we have to optimize other resources we have for power generation,” he emphasised.
“In renewable energy, we are working on solar, not just stand alone but also mini-grid and on utility scale, that is on one side. We also thought that part of the programme is the hydro electric and the best way to start it is the dams,” he said.
The NDPHC CEO said the company was interested in the dams especially those with hydro electric capabilities already installed or can be recovered.
Responding, the Minister of Water Resources, Engr. Suleiman Adamu explained that Nigeria has over 240 dams across the country with most having the capacity for hydro power.
The Minister who pointed out that the dams have the capacity from 40MW and below, stated that most of the projects have been halted because of poor planning.
He explained that most irrigation projects in the country require a lot of water which also needs a lot of electricity to operate.
He therefore urged NDPHC to support the projects by installing solar projects in the irrigation areas.
Lateefah Ibrahim
