The 3050 megawatts (MW) Mambilla hydropower
project which has long been on the drawing board
was stirred in November 2017 when the Federal
Government and Chinese contractors signed a N2.1
trillion (about $5.792 billion) contract deal in Abuja
to execute it. Daily Trust dissects the expected
breakthrough it could record this year.
In June 2017, the Minister of Power, Works and
Housing, Mr Babatunde Fashola, announced that he
obtained a ‘No Objection’ clearance certificate from
the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP) and was
working on raising a memo to present the project at
the weekly Federal Executive Council (FEC).
The FEC then approved the project award on August
30, 2017, two months after the procurement terms
were certified by the BPP while the contract was
signed about two months after.
The federal government eventually signed the
contract in November 2017, marking the beginning
of greater expectations of the biggest single power
generation project in the country.
The project had its first contract awarded in 2007
under President Olusegun Obasanjo government but
was cancelled by a different administration.
The signing ceremony which was supervised by the
minister is said to be a new dawn for Nigeria’s
power sector as the project has lingered for about
40 years, since its idea was conceived.
After the signing ceremony, Fashola hinted that after
the contract signing, the Minister of Finance, Mrs
Kemi Adeosun took over the financial negotiations
with the Chinese financier - The Chinese Export
Import (EXIM) Bank.
Speaking to newsmen at an educative forum for the
Power Sector Reform Programme (PSRP), Fashola
said once the negotiations are completed, he will be
consulted and then government can prepare to flag
it off for construction.
He also said signing the Mambilla contract shows
that the present government was committed to
reforming the power sector adding that, “There are
problems but there is a very clear plan” and
working with the World Bank to implement the
PSRP.”
How it fared earlier
Prior to the 2017 achievement of signing the project
contract for the second time since it was
conceived, yearly budgetary allocation at the Budget
Office since 2010 shows that over N1.8bn was
earmarked on doing certain studies and
consultancies for the project.
In 2010, about N934.9m was allocated to the project
for the geotechnical/geodetic surveys, orthophoto
mapping of the site, the Environmental Impact
Assessment (EIA), land acquisition, resettlement
and compensation of inhabitants at the site. Another
N69.7m was pegged to review the feasibility study
and other spending.
In 2013, the project management and consultancy
services got N200m. It got another N300m in 2014
for consultants to do a detailed Engineering Design
and Project Management Supervision of the project.
The annual report of the ministry for 2014 also
indicates that the detailed engineering design was
completed but another N15.1m was allocated to the
same item in 2015. For Year 2018, the same item
which was said to be completed three years ago will
get N512m, budgetary figures indicate.
An annual report for 2012 showed that the federal
government and the states will be responsible for
the cost of resettlement and project management
estimated at about $310m of which the federal
government had already spent 49.5m as at
December 2012.
In 2016 under President Muhammadu Buhari N407m
was allocated to the project with a vigorous revival.
With incessant attacks on gas pipelines and the
continuous blackout due to over dependence on
gas-based power stations, government pushed to
go beyond the thermal generation and raise the
hydropower capacity to the national grid.
FG to spend N9.82bn in 2018 budget
Already, the federal government has made
provisions for its financing in the 2018 budget
appropriation, the Daily Trust record shows. From
the N434bn budget the ministry is getting for capital
projects in 2018, the sum of N9.82bn has been
pegged on the Mambilla project.
The expenditure breakdown shows that consultancy
services will gulp N1.3bn including a N610m peg on
consultancy works for the valuation and
compensation of the affected communities. There is
a N200m allocation for the Federal government and
Taraba state project implementation team while
another N512m will be spent on the engineering
design, management and supervision of the project.
Government will also spend N8.5bn as part of the
15 per cent counterpart funding for the project.
Completion to take 6yrs, ready by 2023
The $5.79bn project is expected to be completed in
six years from now which is by Year 2023. The
funding consists of $4.92bn from the Chinese Exim
Bank and other Chinese lenders which is 85 per
cent of the contract sum while the Federal
Government will provide the 15 per cent amounting
to $868.87 million.
A breakdown of the contract works obtained by the
Daily Trust show that the project will cover four
large dams which are Nya, Sumsum, Nghu and Api
Weir, and two underground power house of 12 units
of 250mw each all around the Mambilla plateau in
Taraba state.
The other project components include two units of
330 kilo volt (kv) of 700 kilometre (km)
transmission lines to Makurdi in Benue state and
Jalingo. There will about 120km of access roads
connecting the project site and nearby communities
and the resettlement of an estimated 100,000
impacted persons.
The three Chinese firms to handle the project are
China Gezhouba Corporation, Sinohydro Corporation
Ltd and CGOC Group Ltd. l
https://www.dailytrust.com.ng/what-to-expect-for-3050mw-mambilla-hydropower-in-2018.html