President Muhammadu Buhari on Monday approved the constitution of two committees for the delivery of the 3050 megawatts (MW) Mambilla Hydroelectric Power Project in Taraba State.
This is coming days after Daily Trust published an editorial on the project and followed up with an interview with the Minister of Power, Engr. Sale Mamman.
READ: NO COURT INJUNCTION STOPPING MAMBILLA PROJECT — FG
The committees include the Inter-ministerial Steering Committee (IMSC) chaired by the Minister.
The other is the Project Delivery Committee (PDC) chaired by the Director, Renewable Energy and Rural Power Access, Engr. Faruk Yusuf in the Federal Ministry of Power, and will report to the Minister through the Permanent Secretary, Didi Walson-Jack.
In a recent Daily Trust exclusive interview, the minister said survey works for the project has begun just as the project started from the scratch under his supervision when he assumed office in August 2019.
Daily Trust reports that the Mambilla project is said to be originally set to produce 2600MW when it was conceived and had been on the drawing board for about 40 years. It had seen controversies since 2003 and was at the point of being flagged off in 2014 before it again fell into another legal hurdle.
DAILY TRUST EXCLUSIVE: SURVEY WORKS BEGIN FOR N2TRN MAMBILLA HYDRO POWER PROJECT — MAMMAN
However, the Federal Executive Council (FEC) had on August 30, 2017, approved the award of the contract to Messrs China Gezhouba Corporation (CGC), Sinohydro Corporation Limited and CGOC Group Limited. The then minister of Power, Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, signed the $5.72bn contract with the three Chinese firms on November 10, 2017, which was expected to be completed in about 60 months.
At the signing event, Fashola had said: “The project is a new dawn for Nigeria’s power diversity and energy mix. The project will give us the opportunity of energy security; it will give the opportunity to comply with the Paris Climate Change Agreement because it will be delivering renewable energy.”
A statement on Tuesday by the minister’s spokesman, Aaron Artimas, said the members of the IMSC are representatives of Federal Government agencies and the Taraba State Government.
The agencies are Ministries of Water Resources; Environment; Finance, Budget and National Planning; Works and Housing; Justice; Information and Culture, and Mines and Steel Development.
Others are representatives of the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (OSGF), National Security Adviser (NSA), the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA), and the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS).
The terms of reference of the IMSC include fast-tracking the execution and the project delivery; to review in six months the project engineering and technical design concept for optimal efficiency especially as it will benefit the Northeast.
The committee is also mandated to obtain approval of the Loan Facility from the China Exim Bank for the 85 percent off-shore component of the project based on a reviewed contract price.
For the PDC, it will oversee the implementation of the project following timelines and deliverables.
Government will also appoint an independent project consultant to serve as coordinator for the administrative and stakeholder aspects of the implementation.
“The Federal Ministry of Power is expected to announce the dates for the inauguration of the committees soon,” the statement noted.
EDITOR’S PICK: DO NOT LET THE MAMBILLA DREAM DIE
Daily Trust reports that the scope of the contract currently includes four large dams and two underground power houses of 12 units of 250MW each. It also includes 330 KV of 700km power lines to Makurdi and Jalingo, 120km of access roads connecting the project site and the nearby communities and the resettlement of an estimated 100,000 people.
The total project cost is nearly 6 billion US dollars or precisely $5,792,497,062,00. Construction is to take 60 months or five years and will be handled by a consortium of three Chinese companies – China Gezhouba Corporation (CGCC), Sino Hydro Corporation Limited and CGOCC.
The Chinese Export-Import Bank is to provide 85% of the cost while Nigeria will pay 15%. When completed, Mambilla’s power generation of 3050MW is expected to be greater than the combined capacities of Kainji, Jebba, Shiroro, Zungeru Gurara, Kashimbilla and Dadin-Kowa projects.
Earlier last week, Engr. Mamman had assured that President Buhari will make significant progress on the Mambilla project before the end of his tenure in 2023.
“The president has said it and we are on it. We have entered an agreement with Siemens and they are coming to do some expansion,” he said.
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