FG targets 40 Megawatts electricity from Mabon hydro power plant, Gombe
Solomon Ezeme
The Federal Government in a bid to increase the country’s power generation has announced a plan to purchase complementary 40MW (Megawatts) of electricity from the Mabon Hydro Power Plant in Dadin Kowa area of Gombe State.
Henrietta Ighomrore, Head of Corporate Communications, Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading Plc (NBET) stated this in a statement during a meeting with stakeholders in Abuja on Tuesday.
Ighomrore stated that the Federal Government is working towards finalizing a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with Mabon Hydro Power Plant for 40MW of electricity, to complement power supplied by the old grid.
She said, “The meeting is a pre-cursor towards the finalization of its Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with Mabon Hydro Power Plant for 40MW. It is part of the series of actions that the Bulk Trader will undertake prior to closing out the PPA with Mabon Hydro Power Plant.
“This is timely and coming at a time when the country is in need of every available power it can generate and wheel out to the end users.
“The 40MW electricity from Mabon Hydro Power Plant will contribute immensely to strengthening and balancing the National Grid, as the power plant is the only generating plant located in the North East Region of the country,” she said.
According to Abubakar Aliyu, the nation’s Power Minister, the national grid suddenly collapsed on Friday due to vandalism on a transmission tower on the Odukpani Ikot Ekpene, 330kV double circuit transmission line, in Akwa Ibom State, leading to loss of about 400MW of electricity and causing some power plants to be shutdown, nationwide.
NBET as the manager of electricity pool in the Nigerian electricity supply industry (NESI), said it has deliberated with various stakeholders in the industry, including the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) and the Power Distribution Companies (DisCos), to jointly map out strategies for improving power supply to electricity users in Nigeria.
Ighomrore also noted that the Government’s decision to opt for a hydro power plant (which is a clean source of energy) is in line with its commitments to the UN COP 26 obligations on accelerated action and support for the Climate Change Framework.
She emphasized that the move will equally help Nigeria commercialize and put to optimal use small hydro plants in the country with the aim of increasing power generation.
“The President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration is committed to reducing carbon footprints and supporting climate change initiatives. This additional power from Mabon will also contribute further towards reducing the current weighted average cost of power (WACP) within the NBET’s portfolio, as hydro power is a relatively cheaper cost of power generation,” she said.
