The Minister of Water Resources, Mr Suleiman Hassan Adamu, has inaugurated the 40 megawatts Dadin Kowa Hydropower Project in Gombe State.
The Multipurpose Plant has the capacity, not just for electricity generation, but for the irrigation of over 30 thousand hectares and has the capacity to process over 50 million litres of water per day.
It will also be used for fisheries, irrigation control and the protection of biodiversity downstream and upstream.
This will be accomplished through the capacity of the dam, which stands at 2.8 billion cubic metres reservoir capacity, a storage capacity of 1.77 billion cubic metres and depth storage of 1.1 billion cubic metres.
The Minister said in Gombe State there were numerous benefits of the Dadin Kowa Hydropower Project, including industrialisation, promotion of medium and small-scale industries, employment generation among others.
Mr Adamu said the legacy project of Governor Yahaya, which was located some kilometres from the station, was one of the potential beneficiaries of the project.
“The power is an integral component of Dadin Kowa Multipurpose Dam which was built in 1988 with the reservoir capacity of 2.8 billion cubic litres to provide with the goal of providing 6000 hectares of irrigation, 40MW of electricity and 30,000 cubic meters daily water supply to Gombe and environs,” the Minister said.
He said the statutory inspection, testing and certifications of the project by the relevant agencies of government have been completed making it ready for commissioning, appreciating all stakeholders who participated in the making of the success story, especially Mabon Limited, the concessionaire Company that undertook the project.
“I am happy to have seen the fantastically large Muhammadu Buhari Industrial Park very well located and sited to receive a lot of benefits from water supply from the dam and the hydropower it is generating,“ Mr Adamu said.
For Governor Muhammadu Inuwa Yahaya, the Dadin Kowa Multipurpose Dam is a very crucial project to the livelihood and socio-economic growth and development of Gombe State and the whole of North Eastern Nigeria.
He noted at present, the multipurpose dam was providing millions of litres of water supply to the state capital and environs.
“And with the current water expansion project we are undertaking, the facility could provide 50 to 70 million litres of water to Gombe Metropolis and its surrounding communities daily. This is in addition to the provision of irrigation and fishing facilities to the local communities,” Governor Yahaya said.
He said the completion and commissioning of this power project represented a milestone in the energy independence of the North East, noting that the Dadin Kowa and the Kashimbila Power Project were the only grid-generating plants in the North East, making them crucial to the grid and voltage stability in the zone.
The Gombe State Governor Inuwa said the decision of his administration to site the multi-billion naira Muhammadu Buhari Industrial Park within the vicinity of the Dadinkowa Dam was because of the power and irrigation potentials of the facility.
He said Gombe State under his administration is on the path of economic independence and sustainability.
“Our administration is already working on the 200MW solar power project under the Northern Governors’ Renewable Energy Initiative. In addition, we are working to harness our Hydropower potential at Balanga Dam in order to boost Gombe State energy capacity. The discovery and subsequent exploration of oil in the Kolmani region in Gombe State has added gas power to the generation mix which is essential to our industrialisation agenda which we are pursuing rigorously,“ he said.
The Gombe Governor commended all stakeholders and collaborators, especially the Federal Government under President Muhammadu Buhari for its zeal and commitment to ensuring the project reaches its logical conclusion despite the technical, financial and sundry challenges faced in the course of its execution, vowing to ensure that the people of Gombe State will benefit immensely from the project.
In the meantime, the Managing Director, Upper Benue River Basin Authority, Mr Abubakar Halilu Mu’azu, said the construction of the Dadin Kowa Multipurpose Dam commenced in 1982 and was completed in 1986, but the power generating component was only developed in recent years.
He said the concession agreement which brought to reality the construction of the power plant was earlier signed in 2005, but due to some legal, technical and financial challenges, it was only able to be completed in December 2020.
Also, the Managing Director of Mabon Limited, Mr Richard Madubunyi, said the power plant had so far contributed 401 Gigawatt of power to the National Grid.
He gave assurances of effective and efficient handling of the facility while thanking all stakeholders, especially the Federal and state governments as well as the host community for their efforts and contributions towards making the project a reality.
PIAK
